AMD 


COTTY 

cunrNOR 


I 


GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 


«N*V«  OF  GAIJF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


THEY  WERE  THREE  MEN  GOSSIPING  ON  LEIGH  JETTY,  AND  IT 
"CHANCED  THAT  I  PUT  MY  QUESTION  MORE  PARTICULARLY  TO 
THE  TALL  MAN  WITH  A  SQUARE  FACE  AND  WHITE  TROUSERS. 


GOTTY  AND  THE 
GUVNOR 

A  TRUE  NARRATIVE  OF  GOTTY'S  DOINGS 
ASHORE  &-  AFLOAT,  WITH  AN  ACCOUNT  OF 
HIS  VOYAGE  OF  DISCOVERY  ON  A  SHRIMP- 
ING BAWLEY  IN  THE  ENGLISH  CHANNEL 


BY 

ARTHUR  E.  COPPING 

WITH  TWENTY-FOUR  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY 
WILL   OWEN 


NEW  YORK 
MITCHELL   KENNERLEY 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.    OUR    FIRST   MEETING I 

II.    FISHING    FOR   WHITEBAIT          .  .  .  .12 

III.  TWO   GRIM   STORIES 25 

IV.  THE   STRANDED   MARINER         ....         39 
V.    OFF   THE   POLE 53 

VI.   AT   PETTY   SESSIONS 65 

VII.    BUYING   THE   BAWLEY 78 

VIII.   SHRIMPING 94 

IX.   CONSULTING   THE   SKIPPER      ....  108 

x.  THE  MATE'S  MYSTERIOUS  SILENCE  .     119 

xi.  A  SMACK-OWNER'S  MIDNIGHT  EXPERIENCES    .     128 

XII.    OVERHAULING  OUR   CRAFT      .  .  .  -139 

XIII.  SHIPPING  A   NEW   MATE  ....       149 

XIV.  A   LESSON    IN   SEAMANSHIP      .           .            .           .      l6l 
XV.   WE   START 176 

XVI.    FIRST    DAY    AT   SEA  .  .  .  .  .190 

XVII.    MATE  OR    MASTER? 204 

XVIII.   TWO   NIGHTS   IN   A   HAMMOCK  .  .  .217 


2128917 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGB 

XIX.  THE   BATTLE    OF    FOLKESTONE            .           .           .  2 29 

XX.  FREEDOM         .......  242 

XXI.  FOUR   NEW   MATES             .            .           .           .           .  255 

XXII.  IN    A   COLLISION 266 

XXIII.  LOST    IN    A   FOG 280 

xxiv.  THE  SCHOONER'S  PERIL         .        .        .        .291 

XXV.  SHADOWS   OF   PORTLAND   PRISON      .            .           .  306 

XXVI.  BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL        ....  320 

XXVII.  HOMEWARD   IN   A   HURRICANE           .           .           .  339 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACK 

They  were  three  men  gossiping  on  Leigh  Jetty,  and  it 
chanced  that  I  put  my  question  more  particularly 
to  the  tall  man  with  a  square  face  and  white 
trousers Frontispiece 

He  stood  bargaining  for  the  loan  of  a  basket  with  the 
proprietress  of  a  ginger-beer  shop  ,  .  .  .13 

"  There's  a  man"  shouted  Gotty,  '•'"what  ain't  never  eaten 

any  butter"    .........     26 

A  short  man  carrying  an  empty  sack 48 

I  stood  on  the  crowded  jetty  jammed  beside  an  old  hawker  .     57 

"  Yes"  said  the  good  soul,  lifting  her  apron  to  remove  the 
first  tear  I  had  seen  glistening  on  that  happy  face  .  66 

The  owner  of  the  "Jane"  had  offered  to  sell  that  vessel 
for  £50 78 

Jest  sat  on  the  cabin  top,  grumble,  grumble,  grumble,  all 

day  long 87 

Lights  in  the  old  fishing  village  proved  strangely  welcome 
and  companionable 95 

Insisted  on  balancing  a  stout  oak  box  on  his  head,  and 
carrying  a  piece  of  leather  luggage  in  each  hand  .  129 

They  were  a  genial  group  of  mariners,  and  Mr.  Rawson 
sat  in  the  centre,  a  picture  of  cherubic  amiability  .  .150 

vii 


viii          LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Them  two  are  always  at  it,  contradictirf  and  argufyirt 
like  two  lawyers 155 

Our  new  maters  task,  considerately  chosen  as  involving  no 
particular  strain  on  his  elderly  physique,  was  to  scrub, 
tar,  and  paint  the  dinghey 162 

"  But  look  at  'em — jest  look   at  the   nasty  way  they're 

standiri  there  I" 177 

Caused  me  to  turn  and  behold  Gotty  restored  to  my  society, 
without  shoes  or  stockings,  and  with  the  complacent 
air  of  a  man  newly  come  from  a  substantial  tea 
enjoyed  by  his  own  fireside 180 

"  Is  that  gentleman  dead?"  I  asked,  the  thought  being,  I 

admit  to  my  shame,  born  of  the  wish     .         .         .         .   197 

In  the  strange  competition  of  choice  which  held  his  mind  in 
so  delicate  a  balance,  the  Duke's  Head  had  won  .  .221 

/  beheld  him  as  the  centre  of  an  attentive  juvenile  congrega- 
tion to  whom  he  discoursed  on  theft  ....  248 

We  beheld  the  mate  apologetically  gazing  down  at  us  from 
the  little  wooden  pier 259 

The  haven  I  had  chosen  for  the  night — Rye  harbour   .        .  268 

He  screwed  up  his  courage  to  return  to  the  counter  and 

whisper  his  further  need  to  the  obliging  shopman .        .  290 

1  found  a  sturdy  policeman  confronting  me  with  an  aspect 
inquisitive,  triumphant,  and  even  proprietorial  .  .  312 

Walking  on,  we  came  presently  to  a  black-bearded  fisherman 
whom  we  besought  to  acquaint  us  with  local  facilities 
for  selling  one's  catch 332 

The  old  familiar  Estuary 352 


GOTTY    AND    THE    GUVNOR 

I 

OUR  FIRST  MEETING 

"  WHO  caught  the  salmon  ?" 

They  were  three  fishermen  gossiping  on  Leigh 
jetty,  and  it  chanced  that  I  put  my  question  more 
particularly  to  the  tall  man  with  a  square  face  and 
white  trousers — the  man  who  had  a  four-cornered 
beard  on  a  two-cornered  chin.  His  was  a  large, 
strong  face,  absolutely  calm  and  wise. 

"  I  did  ! "  he  replied,  taking  his  pipe  from  his 
mouth  and  looking  at  me  as  though  he  wanted 
to  fight. 

"Couldn't  'ave  arsked  anybody  more  likely  to 
know,"  commented  the  little  man  in  a  blue  jersey. 

"  Got  'im  fust  go,"  agreed  the  fisherman  wearing 
a  bowler  hat. 

"  You  knew  they  were  salmon  ?  "  I  asked  White 
Trousers. 

"  When  you  say  '  they,' "  he  answered  coldly, 
"  p'raps  you  mean  '  it.'  There  wasn't  only  one 
salmon  caught  in  our  boat.  Then  Johnny  John- 
son caught  one,  and  t'other  was  a  Southend  boat 

A 


2         GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

— a  man  by  the  name  of  Brooks.  Ercourse  I 
knowed  what  it  was  !  I  ain't  so  ignerint  not  to 
know  a  salmon  when  I  see  one.  It's  dif'rent  to 
any  other  fish,  a  salmon  is." 

"  There  ain't  no  dif'rence,"  affirmed  Bowler 
Hat,  "  betwixt  a  salmon  and  a  young  bass." 

"  Ain't  there  ! " — and  the  white-trousered  autho- 
rity turned  scornfully  upon  his  interrupter.  "  Did 
you  ever  see  a  bass  with  spots  on  'im  ?  " 

"  'Oo  said  I  did  ?  " 

11  Nobody — only  you  won't  see  a  salmon  with- 
out 'em." 

"  A  bass,"  Blue  Jersey  intervened  to  point  out, 
"  'as  got  a  bigger  head  than  what  a  salmon's  got." 

il  There's  some  people,"  said  Bowler  Hat 
vaguely,  but  with  warmth,  "  as  'ave  got  big  'eads, 
but  there  ain't  much  inside." 

"  What  became  of  the  salmon  ? "  I  hastened 
to  ask. 

"  Mine  was  e't,"  said  White  Trousers  tersely. 
"  Only  if  I'd  known  the  Doctor  would  a  liked  it, 
same  as  'e's  told  me  since,  to  send  up  to  the 
London  Museem,  'e  should  a  'ad  it  and  welcome." 

"The  Doctor!"  jeered  Blue  Jersey.  "And 
he'd  a  known  where  it  come  from,  wouldn't  'e, 
and  found  out  its  birthday  by  looking  at  its  tail — 
same  as  'e  knowed  the  bottle-nosed  whale  was  a 
female — when  it  warn't."  And  the  speaker  spat. 

"  It  warn't  a  bottle-nosed,"  said  Bowler  Hat. 

"  It  were  a  bottle-nosed,"  insisted  Blue  Jersey. 

"  Ain't  you  thinking  of  old  Charley,  what  helped 
to  tow  it  ashore  ?  " 


OUR  FIRST   MEETING  3 

"  Was  the  salmon  nice  ? "  I  asked  White 
Trousers. 

"  Not  'aving  'ad  none,  I  can't  say.  The  mate 
took  it  'ome." 

"  The  mate  !  But  weren't  you  in  charge  of  the 
boat  ?  " 

"That's  right  enough.  But" — in  confidential 
key — "  the  mate's  mother's  the  owner.  Nat'ral 
enough,  'e  'ad  the  salmon,  and  nat'ral  enough,  as 
I  was  a  telling  yer,  it  was  e't." 

A  newspaper  paragraph,  announcing  the  cap- 
ture of  these  fish,  of  a  kind  long  since  extinct  in 
the  London  river,  had  identified  them  with  Danube 
fry  put  into  the  water  above  London  by  the 
Thames  Salmon  Association.  I  asked  White 
Trousers  if  he  thought  that  could  be  so. 

"  Well,  mine  was  a  lot  bigger'n  the  others,"  he 
testified  ;  "  eighteen  inches,  he  was,  and  the  others 
warn't  no  more  than  fourteen.  It  was  a  wonder- 
ful fine  fish,  mine  was." 

"  What  the  gentleman  was  asking  you,"  said 
Bowler  Hat  severely,  "  wasn't  nothing  about  'ow 
big  it  was,  but  if  it  mightn't  be  one  of  them  little 
'uns  what  was  put  in  the  river.  To  my  fancy  it 
couldn't  be  nothing  else." 

"  May-be  it  was,  and  may-be  it  wasn't,"  replied 
White  Trousers  judicially.  "  Only,  mind  you, 
there's  been  a  salmon  took  off  'ere  before,  and  not 
'alf  a  tidy  size  'un  neither.  It  was  a  twenty  pound 
fish,  or  I'm  tellin'  a  lie — as  you  can  see  fer  yerself, 
along  of  its  being  stuffed  up  at  the  Board  School. 
I  'ad  two  pound  of  that  fish." 


4        GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

<'  And  how  did  it  taste  ?  "  I  wanted  to  know. 

"  Wonderful  like  any  other  salmon,"  I  learnt. 

And  then  conversation  drifted  back  to  the 
whale. 

"  It  was  like  this  'ere,"  White  Trousers  ex- 
plained. "  It  got  aground  near  the  Nore,  same 
as  steamers  do  sometimes,  only  not  so  often  as 
they  might,  if  you  understand  my  meanin' — seein' 
it's  a  chance  for  a  pore  fisherman  to  arn  a  pound 
or  two  fer  gettin'  their  anchor  out.  And  some  of 
our  chaps  went  off  with  boat  'ooks,  and  they 
jabbed  away  until  they'd  knocked  the  life  out  of 
it.  They  didn't  know  what  to  do  next  when 
they'd  done  that,  so  after  a  lot  of  talk — one  bein' 
fer  one  thing,  and  one  fer  another — they  took  and 
towed  it  ashore  jest  off  'ere.  They  was  a  week 
gettin'  the  oil  out,  Joe  Larkin's  barge,  what  lay 
alongside,  bein'  all  smothered  ;  and  by  the  time 
they'd  finished,  the  stink  was  that  awful  you 
could  smell  it  nearly  as  fur  as  Tilbury.  There 
was  a  reg'lar  bother,  and  I  don't  know  what  some 
people  wasn't  goin'  ter  do  if  the  whale  wasn't  took 
away.  At  last  they  towed  it  off  to  that  point 
there,  acrost  the  Gut,  and  at  low  water  they  digged 
a  big  'ole,  and  buried  it  in  the  mud." 

"That  was  the  Doctor's  idea,"  added  Bowler 
Hat  ;  "  and  some  day  he's  going  to  'ave  the  bones 
took  up  so  as  he  can  put  'em  together  into  a  nice 
clean  skelington.  A  wonderful  clever  man,  the 
Doctor  is  ;  and  there  ain't  many  that's  got  so  much 
book  laming  1 " 

"  Him    having  said   it   was  a  female,"  sneered 


OUR  FIRST   MEETING  5 

Blue  Jersey,  "when  us  chaps  know'd  it  warn't. 
'E  don't  know  'alf  what  'e  reckons  'e  do — nor  yet 
a  quarter.  I've  told  'im  so.  '  Doctor,'  one  day  I 
says,  '  d'  you  know  my  opinyin  o'  you  as  a  practikle 
fisherman  ? '  '  Somethin'  insultin',  I  suppose,'  says 
'e.  '  No,'  I  says,  '  it  ain't  insultin'.'  '  Well,  what 
is  it  ? '  says  'e.  '  My  owner,'  I  says,  '  gives  me 
enough  to  live  on,'  I  says,  '  ter  go  out  trawlin'  fer 
'im  ;  but  'e  wouldn't  employ  you,  not  if  you  paid 
'im.'  '  I  thought  it  was  somethin'  insultin','  says 
the  Doctor,  and  'e  bust  out  laughin'." 

"  If  I  was  'im,"  commented  Bowler  Hat 
pointedly,  "  I  wouldn't  waste  the  time  ter  talk  to 
some  people.  They're  too  ignerint." 

"  Ter  my  mind,"  said  White  Trousers,  "  there's 
things  swimmin'  about  the  sea  what  no  one  don't 
know  nothin'  about.  Fer  instance,  p'raps  you 
never  saw  a  fish  with  a  mouse's  body  and  two 
long  'orns  stickin'  out  of  'is  'ead  ?  " 

"  Nor  you  neither,"  replied  Red  Jersey,  with 
undisguised  scepticism. 

"  Stay  'ere  a  minuit,"  said  White  Trousers  with 
dignity,  "  and  I'll  go  and  fetch  it." 

"That's  Gotty,"  explained  Bowler  Hat  confiden- 
tially, when  White  Trousers  was  out  of  hearing, 
"  and  there  ain't  another  like  'im,  I  don't  suppose, 
not  anywhere.  It  isn't  many  can  say  they  was 
under  water  twenty  minutes  and  none  the  worse." 

"  And  you  ought  to  see  'im  walkin'  the  greasy 
pole  !  "  testified  Red  Jersey.  "  'E's  got  toes  bent 
round  like  the  claws  of  a  crab,"  he  added  with 
local  pride,  "  so  'e  don't  slip  off  where  others  do." 


6        GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

The  subject  of  these  generous  eulogiums  pre- 
sently returned,  and,  in  impressive  silence,  handed 
me  a  small,  bristly,  inert  object,  which  I  fingered 
with  polite  wonder.  It  suggested  the  vegetable, 
rather  than  the  animal  kingdom  ;  and  at  the  risk 
of  seeming  unsympathetic,  I  hinted  that,  in  my 
opinion,  it  was  no  fish. 

"No  more  I  don't  believe  it  ain't,"  said  Gotty 
with  composure.  "  But  it  was  swimmin'  in  the 
water  when  I  caught  it,  that  I  do  know.  There's 
those  as  say  it's  one  of  them  nuts  with  seeds  in 
what  stick  on  sheep's  backs  in  furrin'  countries, 
and  wery  likely  come  off  a  cattle  ship.  But  'ow 
fur  that's  true  I  can't  say,  fer  I  don't  know."  After 
a  moment  of  thoughtful  reverie  he  added :  "  Did 
you  ever  see  a  glass  walking-stick  full  of  them 
teeny  sweets  what  the  nippers  buy  'undreds  of 
fer  a  farthin'  ?  " 

I  had  never,  unless  my  memory  deceived  me, 
enjoyed  that  privilege ;  and  I  told  him  so. 

"  There's  not  many,"  he  assured  me,  "  as  'ave. 
But  I  can  show  yer  one,  if  you'd  care  to  step 
round  to  my  'ouse.  It  ain't  fur." 

"  Oh,  but  I  really  don't  like  to  trouble  you." 

"  Nothing  ain't  a  trouble,"  came  the  vigorous 
axiom,  "  if  yer  don't  make  a  trouble  on  it." 

He  forthwith  piloted  me  across  the  railway 
bridge  and  up  a  narrow  alley.  We  entered  the 
last  cottage  in  the  row,  where  a  short,  round, 
happy-faced  woman  was  thrown  into  apologetic 
confusion  at  a  visitor  finding  the  kitchen  hung 
with  washing.  Unmoved  by  this  domestic  flutter, 


OUR  FIRST   MEETING  7 

the  great  fisherman  strode  across  that  small 
apartment,  his  cap  well-nigh  brushing  the  ceil- 
ing, and,  stooping,  passed  into  a  parlour  beyond. 
Thither,  having  added  my  apologies  to  the  lady's, 
I  followed  him. 

From  two  supporting  nails  on  the  wall,  Gotty 
took  down  the  glass  walking-stick  stuffed  with 
hundreds  and  thousands ;  and  I  rendered  my 
tribute  of  exclamations. 

"  It  was  give  me,"  said  the  beaming  pro- 
prietor, "in  one  of  my  lucky  weeks,  fer  the  wery 
next  day  they  brought  me  round  this — "  and  he 
held  forward  to  my  scrutiny  the  large  silver  medal 
which  co-operated  with  a  watch-chain  to  decorate 
his  chest.  The  inscription  bore  witness  that,  in 
fourteen  consecutive  years,  he  had  been  victorious 
on  the  greasy  pole  at  Southend  Regatta. 

"  By  rights,"  he  explained  earnestly,  "  there 
should  a  been  a  pig  drawd  on  it,  but  the  man 
what  made  the  medal  said  the  Committee  never 
told  'im,  though  from  what  I  'card  afterwards  they 
did.  Only  I  didn't  care  to  make  a  bother." 

4(  But  why  a  pig  ! "  I  asked,  in  my  ignorance 
resenting,  on  his  behalf,  an  imputation  to  which  he 
seemed  to  be  making  himself  a  party. 

"Why — didn't  you  know,"  he  exclaimed,  in  a 
tone  rich  with  reproach,  "that  it's  always  a  live 
pig  they  give  fer  the  prize  ;  "  and  the  way  he 
looked  at  me  seemed  to  reflect  a  momentary  mis- 
giving that  he  was  bestowing  his  friendship  in  an 
unworthy  quarter. 

I  denounced  myself  for  what  was,  indeed,  but 


8         GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

a  passing  lapse  of  memory ;  and  that  I  secured 
the  champion's  forgiveness  was  manifest  from  the 
affable  tone  of  his  next  remark. 

"At  one  time  they  put  the  pig  on  the  pole,  so 
that  'im  what  got  it  out  of  the  box  'ad  it.  But 
them  times  is  all  altered.  A  pig's  made  that 
funny,  you  see,  'e  can't  swim  without  cuttin'  'is 
own  throat,  along  'o  'aving  short  legs  and  sharp 
feet.  They  cuts  inter  the  flesh,  them  sharp  feet 
does,  so  it  was  brought  in  croolty  to  animals. 
Not,  mind  yer,  as  there  was  any  croolty  the  way 
I  done  it." 

"  Indeed ! " 

"  No.  As  soon  as  ever  I  open  the  box  and  the 
porker  drops  inter  the  water,  splash  in  I  goes  arter 
'im  ;  and  'e  don't  get  no  time  to  commit  sooecide 
before  I  lay  hold  on  'is  legs  and  swim  'im  ashore. 
Only  it  ain't  everybody  that's  quick  enough,  nor 
yet'd  'ave  the  cleverness  ;  so  the  law  says  you 
mustn't  put  a  pig  on  the  pole — and,  what's  more, 
you'll  mostly  find  a  perliceman  on  the  barge  ter 
see  no  one  don't  ferget  'isself  and  put  one  there 
accidental." 

"  So  you've  taken  fourteen  pigs  !  "  And  I  gazed 
with  admiration  upon  a  man  having  so  honourable 
a  record. 

"  Fourteen  !  "  he  protested.  "  More  like  forty  ! 
It  ain't  only  Southend  what  'as  regatters,"  he 
explained,  the  great  bushy  eyebrows  rising  aghast 
at  the  state  of  my  education.  "There's  Leigh, 
there's  Misley — why,  there's  plenty  o'  places  'as 
'em  ;  and  I  mostly  find  time  to  run  in  on  the  day 


OUR  FIRST   MEETING  9 

ter  get  the  pig.  The  pig  or  a  sov'rin,"  he  added, 
anxious  for  accuracy,  "  fer  at  some  places  you  can 
'ave  which  you  like,  and  that  bein'  all  a  butcher  '11 
allow  you  for  the  pig — and  sometimes  make  a 
favour  of  that,  they  do — I  take  the  sov'rin.  And 
a  bit  o'  money  like  that  comes  in  wonderful  'andy 
at  times,  if  you'll  believe  me — same  as  when  my 
wife's  brother's  missis  'ad  'er  first,  them  living 
with  us  then  like  as  now.  It  bought  the  cradle 
and  charnse  it,  and  I  don't  know  as  there  wasn't 
somethin'  over  fer  a  frock  and  sich-like." 

Never  before  was  I  in  the  society  of  a  man 
who,  in  a  series  of  open  competitions  with  the 
world,  had  won  a  herd  of  swine,  and  in  a  few 
respectful  words  I  ventured,  not  merely  to  con- 
gratulate him  on  his  pre-eminence,  but  to  applaud 
the  ease  with  which  he  maintained  it. 

Apparently  by  no  means  ill-pleased  with  the 
impression  he  had  made,  Gotty  was  nevertheless 
swift  to  take  me  up  on  the  latter  point : 

"  They  don't  let  yer  do  it  too  easy — not  till  the 
fourth  time.  If  you  get  to  the  end  fust  go  it  ain't 
counted,  fer  you  must  'ave  three  tries  to  make 
sport  fer  the  people." 

"  Do  you  walk  to  the  end,  then,  four  times  ?  " 
For  I  did  not  quite  understand. 

"  'Oo  ?  Me.  What,  and  wipe  off  the  grease 
for  them  that  'as  to  foller  ?  It  ain't  likely.  Fust 
three  goes  I  jest  walks  a  few  yards  and  drops  over 
inter  the  water.  Fourth  time  I  goes  all  along  the 
pole  and  grabs  the  flag — fer  it's  mostly  a  flag  now 
that  pigs  ain't  allowed." 


io      GOTTY   AND  THE  GUVNOR 

11  And  you've  never  once  been  beaten  ? "  I 
asked,  in  accents  of  warm  appreciation. 

"No,"  he  answered  with  composure,  "and 
what's  more  I've  give  up  expectin'  to.  I  don't 
look  never  to  find  the  man  as  can  walk  the  pole 
better  than  me — not  on  this  earth,"  he  added 
conscientiously,  as  though  alive  to  the  possibility 
of  sensational  happenings  elsewhere,  "  I  don't  look 
to  find  'im." 

Triumphs  of  the  master  are,  in  every  art,  apt  to 
excite  enmity  in  the  bosoms  of  jealous  competitors  ; 
and  thus  I  was  moved  to  ask  Gotty  if  he  had  ever 
met  with  foul  play. 

"Wunst!"  he  replied,  and  in  the  succeeding 
silence  I  noticed  that  he  was  breathing  hard,  his 
lips  tense. 

"  It  was  at  Gravesend,"  he  said,  not  without 
emotion.  "  I'd  bin  along  twice,  and  I'd  fell  off 
twice,  same  as  I  was  a  tellin'  yer.  Then  there 
come  the  third  time.  I  got  up  to  walk  out  agin, 
and  then  fall  off  agin,  nice  and  comfertable ;  but 
I  'adn't  'ardly  set  one  foot  afore  another  when  a 
bloke  on  the  barge  up  with  'is  arm  and  give  me, 
oh,  sech  a  ugly  shove  be'ind.  Start !  I  was 
never  so  took  unawares  in  my  life,  and  it  was  a 
reg'ler  mercy,  the  way  I  fell,  my  pore  neck  wasn't 
broke.  I  swum  ashore,  I  walks  up  the  gardin,  I 
goes  up  ter  the  table,  and  I  says  to  the  Com- 
mittee, '  Gentlemen,'  I  says — though  I  was  that 
upset  I  could  'ardly  get  the  words  out — '  Gentle- 
men/ I  says,  '  beggin'  your  pardin',  but  fair's  fair, 
and  I  don't  'old  with  murderers.'  '  You  go  'ome, 


OUR   FIRST   MEETING  n 

my  man,'  says  one  of  'em,  kind  like,  and  it  was 
easy  ter  see  they  'adn't  saw  what  that  bloke  done, 
and  wery  likely  thought  I'd  been  'aving  a  drop. 
'  You  go  'ome/  he  says,  '  and  don't  you  bother 
about  that  pole  no  more,  fer  you  can't  do  it.' 
'  Beggin'  your  pardin'/  I  says,  '  but  I  can  ;  and 
what's  more,  I'll  do  that  fust,'  I  says,  '  if  I  'ave  fair 
play/  I  says,  '  and  go  'ome  arterwards.'  '  You 
shall  'ave  fair  play,'  he  says,  '  and  look  'ere,  my 
man,'  he  says,  '  if  you  walk  to  the  end  of  that  pole 
next  time  I'll  give  yer  a  extry  sov'rin  out  of  my 
own  pocket.'  'Thank  yer,  sir,'  I  says,  and  I 
didn't  mind  'em  laughin',  fer  it  was  easy  ter  see, 
if  you  understand  my  meanin',  they  didn't  know 
'oo  they  was  talkin'  too.  Back  I  goes  ter  the 
barge  and  this  time  I  took  partic'lar  care  there 
wasn't  no  one  be'ind  to  give  me  a  shove  ;  so  I 
walks  out  and  gets  the  flag.  When  I  goes  up  to 
the  table  agin,  '  Bray-vo,  my  man,'  says  the  same 
gentleman,  and  arter  he  give  me  the  sov'rin,  it 
was  a  hat  round  with  the  others,  so  I  got  nine 
shillin's  beside." 

We  chatted  further  on  kindred  themes,  and  an 
early  blossom  of  our  rapidly  ripening  friendship 
was  the  understanding  on  which  we  parted,  to  wit, 
that  on  the  following  Thursday  Gotty  should  take 
me  out  for  a  fishing  cruise  in  the  vessel  under  his 
command. 


II 

FISHING    FOR   WHITEBAIT 

WHEN,  at  the  specified  hour  on  Thursday  evening, 
I  reappeared  at  the  cottage,  Gotty  stood  awaiting 
my  arrival,  cap  on  and  in  his  sea-boots  ;  and  I 
received  the  hearty,  yet  bustling,  greetings  of  a 
mariner  obviously  anxious  to  be  afloat 

On  the  jetty  we  found  the  mate  and  the  third 
hand. 

"  But  where's  that  young  warmint  ?  "  exclaimed 
the  skipper,  sweeping  the  vicinity  with  an  asto- 
nished gaze. 

"  Not  turned  up,"  leisurely  replied  the  mate. 

"  Ain't  'e,  though  ! "  fumed  Gotty.  "  Wait  till  I 
lay  'old  on  'im  !  'E  don't  keep  time,  'e  don't  larn 
nothin',  'e  don't  speak  respectful,  'e  ain't  worth  'is 
wittles,  there  you  are,  let  alone  eighteen  shillin's 
a  week.  Per  all  the  use  'e  is  we  might  be  without 
a  boy." 

"  So  we  might,"  agreed  the  third  hand. 

"  I'll  give  'im  five  minutes,"  Gotty  wrathfully 
continued.  "  If  'e  don't  show  up  afore  then,  we'll 
go  without  'im — that's  what  we'll  do.  What's 
coming  over  boys  I  dunno."  And  the  perturbed 
skipper  mopped  his  brow. 


FISHING  FOR   WHITEBAIT          13 

In  the  painful  silence  that  followed,  I  bethought 
me  that  graceful  opportunity  might  hereafter  arise 
to  bestow  tobacco  upon  my  new  acquaintances  ; 
and,  on  that  account  desiring  to  supplement  my 
existing  supply,  I  notified  an  intention  to  visit  the 


He  stood  bargaining  for  the  loan  of  a  basket  with  the 
proprietress  of  a  ginger-beer  shop. 

nearest  tobacconist's.  On  this  expedition  Gotty 
courteously  volunteered  to  accompany  me ;  and 
ten  minutes  later,  as  he  stood  bargaining  for  the 
loan  of  a  basket  with  the  proprietress  of  a 
ginger-beer  shop  (for  an  innocent  provision  against 
sea-thirst  had  also  suggested  itself  to  my  bene- 
volence), I  had  the  satisfaction  of  noting  that 


i4       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

the  dilatoriness  and  general  misconduct  of  the 
youngest  member  of  his  crew  no  longer  weighed 
as  a  conscious  memory  on  his  mind.  Nay, 
when,  after  an  absence  of  fully  fifteen  minutes, 
we  were  strolling  back  to  the  water-side,  the 
placidity  of  his  thoughts  entered  the  phase  of 
meteorological  optimism. 

"Well,  well,"  came  the  mellow  comment,  as  he 
pointed  an  appreciative  thumb  to  a  distant  gleam 
of  moonlight  on  the  sea,  "  we'll  find  a  bit  of  a 
draught  out  there,  arter  all." 

But  his  composure  forsook  him  when  he  learnt 
from  the  mate,  who  was  standing  where  we  had 
left  him,  that  the  boy  had  not  yet  arrived. 

"That's  done  it!"  exploded  Gotty.  "  Blowed 
if  that  ain't  done  it.  Termorrow  I  gets  another 
boy  "  ;  and  he  looked  fiercely  from  one  shipmate 
to  the  other. 

"  I  should,"  said  the  mate,  in  the  soft  voice  of 
sympathy. 

"I  will!"  roared  the  skipper,  and  in  royal 
wrath  he  strode  off  alone  towards1  the  head  of 
the  jetty. 

When,  a  little  later,  he  returned,  it  was  to  find 
the  situation  unchanged.  (t  P'ch  ! "  was  his  only 
remark  on  this  occasion,  and  standing  rigid  he 
fixed  a  stern  stare  on  black  distance. 

Conscious  that,  in  the  circumstances,  anything 
like  animated  conversation  would  be  in  bad  taste, 
we  three  exchanged  a  few  commonplaces  in 
hushed  tones. 

"  Well,   ain't  this  too  bad  ? "   the  skipper  pre- 


FISHING  FOR   WHITEBAIT          15 

sently  asked  us.  "Jim,"  he  added,  in  an  injured 
but  friendly  voice,  "  jest  go  along  ter  the  end  of 
the  road  and  see  if  you  can  see  'im  comin'." 

But  ere  the  third  hand  had  time  to  act  upon 
his  superior's  order,  a  nimble  youngster  ran  into 
view. 

"We  were  just  going  without  you,"  said  Jim. 

"  Nearly  too  late,  young  'un,"  said  the  mate. 

"  What  d'yer  mean  by  sich  conduct  ?  "  bellowed 
the  skipper. 

"  I  don't  care  ! "  sang  out  the  boy  with  light- 
hearted  defiance ;  and,  jumping  the  stairs,  he 
raced  to  where  our  dinghey  lay  in  touch  with 
land  and  water. 

We  followed.  The  skipper,  just  in  front  of  me, 
was  labouring  under  great  excitement.  I  heard 
his  painful  attempts  to  fashion  thought  into  con- 
secutive language. 

"  Of  all  the —  !  And  sech  sauce,  too  !  Who'd 
a'believed —  !  Well,  I —  ! "  Suddenly  the  voice 
rose  to  a  roar,  and  across  the  intervening  mud 
he  inquired  : 

"  So  you  don't  care,  don't  yer  ?  " 

11  No — / — don't,"  came  back  in  a  calm,  deliberate 
treble  ;  and  I  was  conscious  that  my  companion 
had  passed  into  that  state  of  mind  when  the 
tongue  becomes  as  parchment  and  speech  is 
impossible. 

In  oppressive  silence  we  got  into  the  boat.  The 
mate  and  the  third  hand  rowed,  Gotty  and  I 
sitting  in  the  stern.  The  boy  was  curled  up  in 
the  bow — whistling. 


1 6       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

We  must  have  travelled  half  a  mile  over  the 
dark,  still  water  before  the  first  word  was  spoken. 

"  You  'card  what  'e  said  ? "  Gotty  asked  me 
huskily.  "'E  don't  care  !" 

Not  well  knowing  what  to  say,  I  remarked  that 
the  culprit  was  young. 

"  Young ! "  cried  Gotty,  as  though  I  had  in- 
sulted him.  "That  don't  give  'im  no  call  ter 
sauce  'is  betters,  do  it  ?  Young !  I  was  a  deal 
younger'n  'im  when  my  father  fust  took  me  ter 
sea.  Things  was  very  dif'rent  then,  let  me  tell 
yer.  Youngsters  was  expected  to  be'ave  their- 
selves — and,  what's  more,  they  was  made  to  work. 
Many  a  time,"  continued  the  skipper,  warming  to 
his  theme,  "  I'd  be  set  ter  splice  a  rope,  and  if  I 
wasn't  quick  enough,  I'd  get  a  knock  acrost  the 
"ands  with  a  marlin-spike." 

"You  must  have  been  a  bad  boy,"  was  the 
grieved  comment  of  our  youngster. 

"  You  speak  when  you're  spoke  to,"  thundered 
Gotty. 

At  this  point  the  conversation  was  interrupted 
by  our  arrival  alongside  the  Breadwinner,  to  which, 
when  we  had  scrambled  on  board,  the  dinghey 
was  made  fast. 

The  next  few  minutes  were  disagreeable  and 
humiliating  to  me.  Gotty,  the  mate,  and  the 
third  hand  had  become  creatures  of  activity,  per- 
forming mysteries  by  the  light  of  the  moon  ;  and 
it  was  as  though,  under  cloak  of  other  activities, 
they  were  jointly  and  solely  concerned  to  hunt 
and  harass  me.  Try  as  I  might,  I  could  nowhere 


FISHING  FOR   WHITEBAIT          17 

find  standing  room  from  which  I  was  not  promptly 
dispossessed,  upon  it  proving  the  very  place  where 
one  or  other  had  labours  to  perform  ;  and  it  was 
my  miserable  fate  to  sit  on  nothing  that  was  not 
immediately  required  for  another  use. 

"'Ere,  jump  down  there,"  said  Gotty,  having 
just  got  me  off  a  coil  of  rope  that  he  wanted. 
"  Then  you  won't  be  in  nobody's  way  ; "  and  in 
obedience  to  this  behest  I  lowered  myself  into  a 
square  cavity  in  the  body  of  the  vessel. 

This  did,  indeed,  prove  a  welcome  asylum,  and 
one  from  which  I  strove,  but  strove  in  vain,  to 
intelligently  follow  the  labyrinthine  movements  of 
my  new  companions.  The  one  matter  which 
made  a  definite  impression  on  my  mind  was  the 
strange  role  which  the  boy  filled  in  this  little 
drama  of  the  sea.  His  co-operation  was  re- 
peatedly requested,  and  though  to  each  call  he 
responded  with  cheerfulness  and  alacrity,  in  no 
instance  did  the  quality  of  the  service  he  rendered 
escape  criticism  of  a  most  personal  and  discourag- 
ing character. 

The  commotion  and  clamour  of  rigging  and 
human  beings  melted  abruptly  into  a  picture  of 
moon-lit  peace.  All  sails  set,  we  were  gliding  past 
the  red  light  of  Southend  Pier  ;  the  cabin  having 
swallowed  all  save  the  chief  of  my  companions. 
He  had  come  to  the  stern,  where,  controlling  the 
tiller  by  subtle  movements  of  his  big  feet,  he 
applied  a  complacent  and  reflective  mind  to  the 
business  of  lighting  a  short  and — if  one  might 
judge  by  its  venerable  aspect — cherished  clay  pipe. 

B 


1 8       GOTTY   AND   THE  GUVNOR 

And  presently  Gotty  was  devoting  his  comfortable 
leisure  to  the  instruction  of  my  lay  understanding 
concerning  the  lightness  of  the  wind,  the  character 
of  vessels  we  were  passing,  and  other  matters  per- 
taining to  the  sea. 

Amid  these  confidences  he  startled  me  by  ab- 
ruptly remarking : 

"  Git  out  the  b'loon  fore-sel  1 " 

But  I  promptly  recognised  this  to  be  other  than 
a  bewildering  call  on  my  own  services,  for  the 
repetition  of  those  words  in  a  high  key  of  rugged 
authority  sufficiently  attested  that  they  were  ad- 
dressed to  another  quarter. 

The  mate  scrambled  into  sight,  and  straightway 
set  about  wrestling  with  a  considerable  heap  of 
sailcloth. 

"  But  where's  Jim  ?  "  demanded  the  skipper,  and 
he  proceeded  indignantly  to  bawl :  "  'Ere  !  Jim  ! " 

A  head  and  shoulders  came  guiltily  into  view, 
and  the  third  hand  was  seen  to  be  involved  with 
a  slice  of  food. 

"  What  !  At  it  again  ! "  cried  Gotty.  "  Bless 
me  if  'e  ain't  always  eatin'.  Bernarners,  marmer- 
lade,  cakes — 'e  don't  mind  what  it  is.  I  b'lieve 
'e'd  eat  a  baby  what'd  died  o'  the  smallpox." 

Without  deigning  any  reply  to  criticisms  so 
uncalled-for,  the  third  hand  lent  his  assistance  to 
the  task  that  occupied  the  mate  ;  and  presently 
a  wider  stretch  of  canvas  met  my  eyes,  and,  our 
peaceful  progress  resumed,  I  was  privileged  to 
listen  anew  to  words  of  nautical  wisdom. 

But  the   crew,   who   had  again  betaken  them- 


FISHING   FOR   WHITEBAIT          19 

selves  below,  reappeared,  unsummoned,  when  we 
were  abreast  the  lights  of  Shoeburyness. 

"'Eave  the  lead  !"  Gotty  commanded. 

The  third  hand  did  so. 

"  Seven  fathom  I "  he  announced,  as  he  drew 
in  the  line.  He  threw  the  lead  again.  "  Seven 
fathom  ! "  Then  again  and  still  again,  with  these 
successive  readings : 

"  Seven  fathom  and  a  half."  "  Eight  fathom 
less  a  quarter."  "  Eight  fathom." 

"  Leggo  ! "  thundered  Gotty,  and  there  was  a 
noisy  rush  of  chain  as  the  mate  released  the 
anchor. 

The  spirit  of  toil  and  tumult,  having  thus  de- 
scended once  more  on  the  Breadwinner,  tarried 
awhile  with  us. 

To  what  precise  end  the  commander  and  crew 
were  exercising  their  bodies  and  tongues  so  un- 
sparingly, I  was  not  at  the  moment  privileged  to 
learn.  I  merely  saw  that  they  were  desperately 
set  on  shoving  some  long  netty  object  into  the 
sea,  while  the  long  netty  object  seemed  equally 
determined  not  to  go.  But  the  final  victory  lay 
with  brain  and  muscle,  though  it  would  seem  that 
the  mutinous  thing  of  meshes  indulged  at  the 
moment  of  defeat  in  one  final  spasm  of  misbe- 
haviour. For,  immediately  after  the  heavy  splash, 
Getty's  voice  arose  in  panic  lamentations : 

"  She's  fast !  Foul  o'  the  rudder,  ain't  she  !  A 
nice  thing  ter  'appen  !  'Ere,  Jim — the  boat-'ook, 
quick  I  And  wery  likely  broke  'er  templins ! 
Don't  be  all  night,  Jim  !  She's  tore — I  lay  she's 


20      GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

tore.  Yer  know,  it's  all  that  young  'un's  fault ! 
'E  must  'ave  'ung  on  too  long  at  that  end,  istid  o' 
lettin'  go.  I  wish  'e  wouldn't  shove  'is  face  in  so 
much  ;  'e  'inders  a  lot  more  than  'e  'elps." 

"  I  wasn't  touching  it ! "  came  the  boy's  shrill, 
indignant  protest. 

"  Then  you  ought  to  'a  bin  1 "  roared  Gotty, 
manifestly  blind,  in  his  perturbation,  to  the  finer 
shades  of  equity. 

Jabbing  with  a  boat-hook  yielded  no  relief  to  a 
situation  that  filled  the  entire  ship's  company  with 
growing  excitement,  and  presently  I  beheld  Gotty 
scramble  into  the  dinghey,  that  he  might  get  at 
close  quarters  with  what  was  amiss. 

And  now  I  had  my  second  experience  of  the 
astonishing  swiftness  with  which,  at  sea,  calm 
succeeds  storm.  The  net  having  been  prevailed 
upon  to  descend  to  its  appointed  duties,  the  crisis 
was  not  merely  ended,  but  obliterated.  Gotty 
and  the  boy  were  already  exchanging  friendly 
ideas  about  the  possibility  of  rain  before  the 
dawn.  It  was  as  though  one  should  be  thrilled 
by  fire  and  earthquake  one  minute,  and  the 
next  be  lulled  by  the  honeysuckle  calm  of  rural 
life  on  a  summer  afternoon.  Nothing  remained 
of  the  recent  excitement  but  the  accelerated  speed 
at  which  it  had  set  my  heart  sympathetically 
beating. 

"  It  warn't  nothin'/'  Gotty  took  his  pipe  from 
his  mouth  to  politely  explain,  when  I  pressed  for 
details,  "  only  one  o'  them  jumps  catched  under 
the  rudder.  It  easy  'appens  with  the  tide  runnin' 


FISHING   FOR   WHITEBAIT         21 

anyways  strong  ter  lu'ard.  Yer  see,"  he  added,  by 
way  of  revealing  the  full  significance  of  recent 
operations  in  their  entirety,  "  we're  standin'  now. 
Draggin'  comes  afterwards." 

And  gradually  I  pieced  together  a  conception 
of  how  we  rode  there  at  anchor  above  a  broad 
stretch  of  net  into  which  the  tide  was  sweeping 
unwary  whitebait. 

"  I  don't  'ardly  look  ter  catch  more  than  a 
gallon,"  Gotty  said  feelingly,  by  way  of  supple- 
ment to  information  of  a  more  general  character. 
"The  net's  that  rotten  it  ain't  fit  ter  keep  crows 
off  a  row  of  peas ;  only  there's  a  noo  'un  comin', 
and  the  sooner  the  better.  Don't  it  stand  ter 
reason,"  he  asked  argumentatively,  "  that  yer  can't 
catch  a  small  fish  like  that — and  wonderful  quick 
a  whitebait  is ! — when  there's  'oles  in  the  net 
big  enough  fer  a  twenty-pound  codfish  ter  go 
through  ! " 

I  made  haste  to  assure  him,  for  what  my  opinion 
might  be  worth,  that  his  contention  appeared  to  be 
logically  unassailable. 

His  next  proposition  found  me  even  more  readily 
acquiescent. 

"A  couple  o'  howers'  shut-eye  wouldn't  do  us 
no  'urt,  would  it  ?  What  do  yer  say  if  we  turn 
in  fer  a  spell  ?  " 

I  followed  him  down  into  the  low-pitched  cabin, 
which,  in  the  yellow  illumination  of  a  small  lamp, 
proved  to  be  full  of  legs  and  heads.  I  wriggled 
into  the  bunk  whither  Gotty  directed  me.  Peer- 
ing around,  I  was  some  time  in  assorting  that 


22       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

strange  scene  into  its  component  parts.  Know- 
ledge covered  me  with  confusion.  For  the  only 
other  bunk  was  occupied  by  the  mate ;  and  the 
skipper,  having  given  his  bed  to  me,  was  lying  on 
the  floor.  Nor  could  my  protests  avail  against 
his  kindness. 

The  boy  crawled  into  some  private  hole  of  his 
own,  and  the  third  hand,  I  learnt,  was  lying  on 
deck,  wrapped  in  the  topsail. 

It  was  a  little  past  midnight.  Gotty  set  the 
alarm  to  a  quarter  to  three  ;  and,  anon,  snoring 
proclaimed  slumber. 

On  being  disturbed  by  what  I  fondly  hoped  was 
a  premature  demonstration  on  the  part  of  the 
clock,  I  opened  my  reluctant  eyes  to  unmistak- 
able dawn.  When  I  reached  the  deck,  the  net 
had  already  been  lifted.  Its  freight  of  seaweed 
and  little  wriggling  fishes  was  being  emptied  into 
a  tub. 

"That  net's  wusser  than  I  thought,"  lamented 
Gotty,  as  he  shook  his  head  over  the  smallness  of 
the  catch. 

The  mate,  the  third  hand,  and  the  boy  got  into 
the  dinghey,  and  rowed  away  to  a  belt  of  sand  that 
figured  mistily  in  the  cold  grey  morning.  With 
another  net  they  "  dragged  "  in  shallow  water,  the 
boy  on  shore  walking  with  one  end  of  the  support- 
ing line,  the  other  end  being  fastened  to  the  boat, 
which  the  two  men  rowed.  After  the  warmth  of 
the  cabin,  this  occupation  repelled  by  its  suggestion 
of  chilly  discomfort. 

Seeing  me  yawn,  Gotty  prescribed  a  little  more 


FISHING  FOR   WHITEBAIT         23 

sleep  ;  nor  was  I  reluctant  to  resume  my  tenancy 
of  his  bunk. 

On  reawaking  two  hours  later,  I  found  a  fire 
in  the  cabin  stove,  bacon  fizzing  in  the  frying- 
pan,  a  loaf  of  bread  on  the  floor,  and  my  hospi- 
table skipper  ready  to  put  a  handful  of  tea  in  the 
kettle. 

When  the  crew  came  back  there  was  more 
headshaking ;  for  they  had  captured  only  three 
quarts  of  whitebait,  six  dabs,  two  eels,  and  a 
dog-fish. 

"  Are  you  really  going  to  discharge  that  boy  ?  " 
I  asked  Gotty  privately,  when,  at  9  A.M.,  we  landed 
at  Leigh  jetty. 

"  Well,  yer  see,"  he  replied  confidentially,  "  me 
and  'is  father  plays  dominoes  tergether,"  and  while 
he  was  about  it  he  was  so  good  as  to  trace  back 
the  boy's  pedigree,  on  both  the  mother's  and 
father's  side,  for  several  generations — genealogical 
data  which  yielded  proof  that,  however  pronounced 
the  youth's  maritime  deficiencies  might  be,  he  at 
least  came  of  well-established  Leigh  stock. 

Casual  mention  of  the  paternal  grandfather  left 
its  mark  on  Gotty's  conscience. 

"  I  ain't  bin  round  ter  see  ole  Ben,"  he  con- 
fessed, "  not  fer  a  year,  if  it  ain't  more.  And  not 
bein'  able  ter  get  about,  'e  don't  see  nobody  if  they 
don't  go  and  see  'im.  Pore  ole  feller  !  It  only 
shows  'ow  easy  we  all  get  fergot,  same  as  if  we 
was  dead  and  gorn." 

Nor  did  these  reflections  fail  to  quicken  the 
social  instincts  of  their  author  ;  for  he  resolved 


24      GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

upon  an  immediate,  if  tardy,  call  upon  his  ancient 
and  invalided  neighbour. 

"  Ain't  you  comin'  too  ? "  he  had  the  further 
happy  inspiration  to  suggest  ;  and  thus  it  hap- 
pened that  I  was  introduced  to  the  boy's  grand- 
father, besides  becoming  acquainted  with  salient 
features  in  the  character  of  his  great-grandfather. 


Ill 

TWO   GRIM   STORIES 

WE  found  old  Ben  sitting  on  his  bed  in  the  front 
parlour. 

"  There's  a  man,"  shouted  •  Gotty  when,  he 
having  opened  the  door,  we  stood  unnoticed  on 
the  threshold,  "  what  ain't  never  eaten  any  butter," 
and  at  this  unusual  form  of  introduction  I  stood 
blankly  gazing  at  the  strange  face  which  slowly 
turned  to  greet  us. 

Like  parchment  stretched  on  a  skull,  it  was  lit 
by  one  bloodshot  eye,  the  other  having  manifestly 
closed  to  scenes  of  this  world.  That  salted  relic 
of  the  last  century  was,  head  and  body,  all  agog 
and  a-quiver,  as  with  the  palsy. 

"  Sit  ye  both  down — sit  ye  down,"  piped  the  old 
fellow,  with  hospitable  motion  of  his  skinny,  trem- 
bling hand. 

"  So  you've  never  eaten  any  butter  ?  "   I  said. 

"  Eh  ? "  he  asked,  eagerly  advancing  his  poor 
old  wobbling  head. 

"So  you  don't  eat  butter?"  (In  louder 
voice.) 

"  No,"  assented  the  patriarch.  "  The  sight  of 
it's  enough  for  me  ;  I  can't  abear  it.  When  I  was 


26       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

a  boy  of  seven  my  mother  give  me  a  bit  o'  buttered 
toast.     Urch  !     Never  no  more  ! " 

The  grimace  bore  witness  that,  after  eighty 
years,  the  flavour  was  still  an  unpleasant  memory 
in  his  mouth. 

"  Once,"  pursued  the  octogenarian,  "  I  smelt 
some.  Urch  !  I  was  nearly  took  ill." 

Politeness  suggesting  an  inquiry  as  to  the  state 
of  his  health,  I  learnt  that  one  side  of  him — cheek, 
arm,  trunk,  and  leg — had  gone  dead  and  shrivelled. 
But  a  finer  illustration  of  the  subordinate  position 
of  the  flesh  it  was  never  my  fortune  to  meet.  For 
that  moribund  body,  as  was  to  be  abundantly 
revealed,  held  a  lively  spirit. 

"  Why,  old  boy,"  cried  Gotty,  in  sudden  amaze- 
ment, "  if  you  ain't  lost  some  front  teeth  ! " 

"  Didn't  ye  know — didn't  ye  hear  about  it  ? " 
squeaked  the  old  curiosity  in  apologetic  consterna- 
tion ;  and  the  right  hand  started  on  a  slow  zig-zag 
journey  to  the  bereaved  lower  jaw.  "  It's  close  on 
two  year  since  it  'appened." 

"Two  year  ago,"  affirmed  Gotty,  who  seemed 
much  upset  by  his  discovery,  "  old  Ben  'ad  a  set  o' 
teeth  many  young  wimmin  'd  be  proud  of." 

"  So  they  used  to  tell  me — so  they  used  to  tell 
me,"  simpered  the  ancient. 

"  How  did  it  happen  ?"   I  asked. 

"  It  was  along  o'  going  to  a  Sunday  school  tea," 
came  the  crestfallen  explanation.  "  I  didn't  want 
to  go,  but  they  kept  on  saying  I  must,  so  the  end 
of  it  was  I  went.  I  cracked  a  lot  o'  nuts,  and 
that's  what  begun  it." 


"THERE'S  A  MAN,"  SHOUTED  GOTTY,  "WHAT  AIN'T  NEVER  EATEIO 
ANY  BUTTKR." 


TWO   GRIM   STORIES  27 

"  What  sort  o'  nuts  ? "  demanded  Gotty  in- 
dignantly. 

"  Bruzil  nuts." 

"  But  hadn't  they  any  nut-crackers  ?  "  I  asked. 

"They  'ad,  sir — they  'ad,"  the  old  man  replied 
miserably.  "  But  I  told  'em  I  'ad  no  call  for  sich 
things,  being  wishful  to  show  'em  I'd  got  all  my 
teeth." 

"  Bruzil  nuts  ain't  fit  fer  a  schoolboy  to  crack," 
shouted  Gotty.  "  You  ought  ter  be  ashamed  o' 
yerself." 

"  I  did  ought  to  'a  'ad  more  sense,"  agreed  the 
veteran  humbly.  "  But  that's  what  begun  it." 

"  Begun  it ! "  stormed  Gotty.  "  What  else  did 
yer  crack  ?  " 

"  I  'et  a  bakin'  pear,"  confessed  the  venerable 
fisherman,  looking  guiltily  from  one  to  the  other. 

"  A  bakin'  pear ! "  exclaimed  the  astonished 
Gotty.  "  What  in  the  name  o'  wonder  made  yer 
do  that  ?  " 

"  It  was  a  big  'un,  'an  hard  as  wood,  and  old 
Bill  'Art — you  know  Bill  'Art  ? — said  'e'd  give  me 
sixpence  if  I  e't  it.  So  I  e't  it,  core  an'  all,  and 
nex'  mornin'  the  fust  two  teeth  come  out." 

"  And  now,  as  a  punishment,"  I  suggested,  "  you 
have  to  live  on  sops  ?  " 

Old  Ben  blinked  at  me  blankly. 

"Milk  puddens  and  gruel  and  sich-like,"  trans- 
lated Gotty.  "  Don't  yer  understand  the  gentle- 
man's meanin'  ?  " 

"Who?  Me!"  expostulated  old  Ben.  "Me 
eat  gruel  ?  Ercourse  not !  Plum  pudden's  more 


28       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

to  my  likin'.  What  I'd  jest  fancy  now" — and  a 
dreamy  ecstasy  shone  in  the  bloodshot  eye — "  'ud 
be  a  dumplin' — a  big  dumplin'." 

"'Ear  'im!  Jest  'ear  'im  1"  said  Gotty  in  a 
proud  undertone.  "A  dumplin',  and  'im  gettin' 
on  fer  ninety  "  ;  and,  these  words  reminding  him 
that  old  Ben  was  something  of  an  invalid,  he 
shouted  sympathetically  in  his  ear  : 

"  D'yer  mind  our  smoking — the  terbacca  don't 
tickle  yer  throat,  or  nothin'  ?  " 

"  Lor'  bless  yer,  no,"  spluttered  the  hospitable 
old  soul.  "  I  likes  it." 

"  You  don't  smoke  yourself  ?  "   I  asked. 

"  No,  and  never  did,"  he  replied  ;  "  and  there's 
somethin'  I  can  tell  yer,  and  you'll  find  my  words 
come  true — I  shan't  take  to  it  now." 

Despite  the  paralysed  cheek,  the  absence  of 
flesh,  and  the  bloodshot  eye,  Old  Ben  puckered 
his  countenance  into  an  alluring  smile. 

"  A  teetotaller,  too  ?  "  I  queried. 

"  No,  no,  I  was  never  what  you'd  call  a  'eavy 
drinker,  but  I  likes  my  three  'a'porth  o'  beer  last 
thing  at  night." 

"  D'yer  remember  them  times  we  'ad,"  shouted 
Gotty,  "  when  the  Caister  went  down  ?  The  silk 
and  sich  like  we  brought  'ome  ?  " 

"  Ercourse  I  do,"  replied  the  old  man.  "  Didn't 
I  get  two  sides  o'  bacon  out  of  her  ?  And  lovely 
bacon  it  was  ! " 

The  poor,  withered  hand  drifted  about  in  a  vain 
effort  to  reach  Gotty's  ribs. 

"  'Ere,"   he   squeaked,    with   growing  geniality, 


TWO   GRIM   STORIES  29 

"  d'yer  mind  that  brig  what  went  ashore  out  'ere  ? 
Oringes,  nuts,  a'monds  !  My  !  what  a  time  we  did 
'ave  to  be  sure.  Wasn't  they  lovely  oringes  ?  " 

"They  was,"  bawled  Gotty.  "And  I  never 
tasted  better  a'monds  not  afore  or  since." 

"  No  more  didn't  I,"  agreed  the  elderly  autho- 
rity on  delicacies,  "  and  seeing  as  you  could  'ave 
pailfuls  fer  nothing,  they  was  cheaper  'n  the  cigars 
my  father  used  ter  bring  'ome  on  dark  nights." 

A  chuckle  entered  into  competition  with  the 
palsy,  and  he  made  a  heroic  effort  to  wink  the 
bloodshot  eye. 

"  Your  father  was  a  smuggler  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Lor'  bless  yer — 'e  was  always  at  it.  Cigars, 
spirits,  scent — our  cellar  was  mostly  'alf  full  o* 
stuff.  Him  and  a  man  named  Joe  Atkins  was 
partners,  and  when  there  waren't  no  moon — 
Who's  that?" 

For  the  door  had  opened,  and  an  elderly  navvy 
of  commanding  proportions  stood  irresolute  at  the 
threshold. 

"  Mrs.  Smith  in  ? "  he  broke  the  awkward 
silence  by  asking. 

"  She  won't  be  long,"  quavered  old  Ben,  when 
Gotty  had  repeated  the  inquiry  in  his  ear.  "  If 
you'd  jest  step  inside,  please.  I  know  she  was 
expectin'  her  cousin  Charles." 

"  That's  me,"  exclaimed  the  great  healthy  man  ; 
"  Charles  Vincent,  from  'Adleigh  Colerny." 

"  Do  come  in,"  pleaded  the  poor  old  helpless 
host — an  invitation  which,  seeing  the  stranger 
still  hesitate,  Gotty  and  I  stoutly  supported. 


30      GOTTY   AND   THE  GUVNOR 

"  Yuss,  but  I  don't  want  to  be  in  the  way, 
yer  know,"  said  the  visitor,  as,  yielding  under 
pressure,  he  entered,  closed  the  door  behind 
him,  and  took  the  chair  I  ventured  to  place  at 
his  disposal. 

"  You  won't  be  in  no  one's  way,"  Gotty  assured 
him.  "It's  a  fine  day,  mate,  ain't  it?" 

"You're  right,"  agreed  the  newcomer,  mopping 
his  great  ruddy  temples  with  the  sleeve  of  his  coat. 
"  But  you  gentlemen  ain't  a-going  to  let  me  spoil 
your  talk,  now,  are  you  ?  " 

I  assured  him  to  the  contrary,  and  demonstrated 
the  fact. 

"  You  were  saying,"  I  reminded  old  Ben,  "  your 
father  used  to  go  smuggling  ?  " 

"There  was  'ardly  a  fortnight  pass,"  the  lively 
old  wreck  replied,  "  but  he  and  Joe  Atkins  'd  be 
out  in  their  whaler.  There  wasn't  no  secret  about 
it.  Lord  bless  yer  !  Everybody  knowed  what 
they  was  after — everybody,  I  mean,  except  them 
whose  biz'nis  it  was  to  find  out.  It  was  along 
of  them  carryings  on  that  my  pore  father  came 
by  'is  end." 

"How  did  it  happen?"  I  inquired;  and  the 
expression  on  the  navvy's  face — though  he  made  a 
praiseworthy  effort  to  disguise  his  interest — plainly 
asked  the  same  question. 

"They'd  bin  to  a  ship  at  the  Nore,  what  they 
got  a  lot  of  rum  out  of,  and  my  pore  father,  being 
pertic'lar  fond  of  rum,  took  more  than  was  good 
fer  'im.  He  fell  overboard  and  was  drownded." 

"  Couldn't  he  swim  ?  "  I  asked. 


TWO   GRIM   STORIES  31 

"There  wasn't  many  could  swim  better  ;  but 
swimming  ain't  going  to  'elp  a  man  what's  three 
parts  gone." 

"  But  you  would  think,"  said  the  navvy,  his 
policy  of  self-effacement  completely  breaking 
down,  "'e  might  'ave  kept  afloat,  drunk  or  sober, 
till  the  other  bloke  'ad  time  to  pull  'im  out." 

"That  right  enough,"  agreed  the  antique  orphan, 
politely  wobbling  his  face  round  in  the  direction  of 
his  new  auditor.  "  But  Joe  Atkins  was  another  as 
was  pertic'lar  fond  of  rum.  They  was  a  pretty 
pair,  that  they  was,  and  Joe  Atkins  was  'anging  on 
ter  the  tiller  'alf  asleep,  and  didn't  notice  my  father 
was  gorn  not  till  the  whaler  come  alongside  the 
jetty.  That  oughter  a'  bin  a  lesson  to  many,  I'm 
sure  it  ought,"  continued  the  old  man,  addressing 
himself  more  particularly  to  me.  "  My  father  was 
never  seen  no  more,  but  twenty  year  afterwards 
— I  ain't  tellin'  yer  no  story — 'is  boots  was  picked 
up  in  a  trawl  and  brought  ashore." 

"  How  do  you  know  they  were  his  boots  ?  "  the 
navvy  and  I  asked  simultaneously. 

"  Give  me  time  to  tell  yer,"  quavered  the  oldest 
inhabitant.  "That's  what  I  was  a-comin'  to. 
Nobody  didn't  'ave  any  thought  whose  boots  they 
might  be,  but  when  the  cobbler  come  to  see  'em 
he  knew  'em  at  once,  along  o'  'aving  put  a  pertic'lar 
kind  o'  patch  on  fer  my  father." 

"  How  very  remarkable,"  was  my  appreciative 
comment. 

"  There's  many  people,"  said  Gotty  earnestly, 
"  wouldn't  believe  'ow  long  anything  will  last, 


32       GOTTY  AND  THE   GUVNOR 

covered  over  with  sand  at  the  bottom.  That  'ere 
blue- jacket's  cap  what  Jim  Winter  found  with  the 
'alf  sovereigns  in — you  may  depend  that  'ad  laid 
there  a  tidy  time,  fer  there  was  somebody  said 
caps  that  shape  'adn't  been  wore  in  the  navy  fer 
sixty  year." 

"  What  was  the  date  on  the  money  ?  "  asked  the 
navvy  keenly. 

"  Jim  didn't  keep  it  long  enough,"  Gotty  ex- 
plained, "  ter  find  out.  When  he  picked  the  cap 
out  o'  the  trawl  'e  started  ter  shake  it  and  'it  it  ter 
git  the  sand  out,  and  the  three  'alf  sov'rins  fell  out 
on  deck.  Yer  see,  'e  didn't  'ave  no  thought  there 
might  be  somethin'  in  the  Hnin',  though  that's  jest 
where  a  blue-jacket  often  will  stow  a  bit  o'  money, 
the  same  as  needle  and  thread,  and  sich-like.  Jim 
only  'ad  jest  time  ter  see  them  coins  when  they'd 
rolled  through  the  scuppers  and  gorn  for  ever. 
Swear  !  By  all  accounts  'e  carried  on  most  dis- 
graceful ;  only  it's  enough  to  upset  anybody,  losin, 
a  bit  o'  money  like  that." 

"  No  mistake,"  agreed  the  navvy. 

"What  extraordinary  things  do  happen  at  sea!" 
I  was  moved  to  remark. 

"  Yuss,"  said  the  navvy ;  "but  there's  more  hextri- 
ordinary  things  'appen  on  shore  " — an  observation 
which  I  thought  showed  a  very  proper  spirit  in  a 
landsman.  "  I  could  tell  yer  somethin',"  he  added, 
darkly,  "  only  you  wouldn'  berlieve  it  ?  " 

"  I  would  try,"  I  said  humbly. 

"  If  I  was  ter  tell  yer,"  he  went  on,  almost 
defiantly,  "  that  a  man  could  get  six  months'  'ard 


TWO   GRIM  STORIES  33 

labour  fer  a  dream,  you'd  call  me  a  liar,  wouldn't 
you  ?  " 

Before  I  had  time  to  clear  my  character  from 
this  ungenerous  suspicion,  old  Ben  intervened. 

"  I  don't  'ear  what  'e  says  ! "  he  wailed,  anxiously 
flopping  his  old  head  at  Gotty  and  me,  by  way  of 
invoking  our  aid  to  see  he  was  not  robbed  by  aural 
infirmity  of  such  good  things  as  might  be  going. 

"  I  was  just  a-saying,"  said  the  navvy,  thought- 
fully drawing  his  chair  close  to  the  bed,  and  so 
getting  into  close  communication  with  the  veteran's 
serviceable  ear — "  no  one  wouldn't  berlieve  a  man 
could  go  to  quod  for  a  dream." 

"  No — no  more  they  would  ! "  came  the  polite 
acquiescence,  accompanied  by  a  negative  nodding 
of  the  head  that  was  not  all  palsy. 

"  That's  what  'appened  to  me  !  "  continued  the 
robust  navvy. 

"  Did  it  though  ! "  squeaked  the  deeply  interested 
old  invalid.  "  'Ow  was  that  ?  " 

"Why,  it  was  like  this  'ere,"  said  the  giant  of 
clay  and  corduroy,  fairly  settling  down  to  tell  his 
story.  "  I'd  been  gorn  to  bed  some  time  when  I 
suddenly  found  out  I  was  dead." 

"  Lor  ! "  gasped  the  ancient  listener,  his  frail 
anatomy  visibly  affected  by  shock. 

"There's  no  knowing,"  pursued  the  narrator, 
"  what  things  you  won't  dream  sometimes.  So  I 
woke  up  the  missis  and  told  her  I  was  dead. 
'  Dear  me,'  she  says,  'so  you  are.'  Then  she  goes 
on  to  say  as  'ow  it  was  rather  awkward,  as  there 
wasn't  no  money  to  bury  me  with.  '  Oh,  dear/ 

C 


34       GOTTY    AND   THE   GUVNOR 

says  I,  '  no  more  there  is  ; '  and  then  I  began  to 
worry  and  worry  whatever  should  we  do  about  it. 
At  last  I  gets  an  idea,  so  I  dresses  myself  and  goes 
out,  and  'urries  down  to  the  yard  where  I  worked. 
I  goes  up  the  wooden  stairs  to  the  office  where 
we  draws  our  money  every  Friday,  and  there  I 
sees  the  man  what  was  in  the  habit  of  paying  us. 
'Hullo!'  he  says,  'you're  looking  queer.  What's 
up  ? '  '  I'm  dead/  I  says — only  you  must  remember 
what  I'm  telling  you  was  only  a  dream." 

"  Right-o  !  "  said  Gotty,  with  a  wink  to  me. 
The  strain  on  other  faculties  of  our  infirm  host 
had  temporarily  bereft  him  of  the  power  of 
speech. 

"'I'm  dead,'  I  says,"  continued  the  navvy  stolidly, 
" '  and  I  want  you  to  lend  me  a  quid  so  as  my  old 
woman  '11  be  able  to  bury  me.'  '  Right  you  are,' 
says  he,  and  he  puts  a  sovereign  down  on  the 
desk.  'Thank  you,'  says  I,  and  I  goes  off  with 
the  money,  taking  partic'lar  care,  being  dead,  how 
I  went  downstairs,  so  as  I  shouldn't  fall  and  drop 
it.  That  was  all  I  kept  thinking  of — I  mustn't 
drop  the  money,  I  mustn't  drop  the  money,  else 
my  missis  wouldn't  be  able  to  bury  me.  Then  I 
thought  to  myself  how  easy  it  was  to  drop  a 
sovereign,  and  how  I'd  better  get  it  changed.  So 
having  got  past  the  Dock-gates  I  dropped  into 
the  'Artichoke,'  which  was  a  house  I  used,  and 
there " 

"  Not  the  '  Arterchoke  '  at  East  India  Docks  ! " 
exclaimed  Gotty,  in  sudden  excitement. 

"  That's  it.     Used  to  be  kept  by  a  man  of  the 


TWO   GRIM   STORIES  35 

name  of  Woods,  only  it's  fifteen  years  ago  what 
I'm  talking  about." 

"  I  know  the  '  Arterchoke  '  well ! "  proclaimed 
Gotty.  "  Ercourse  I  do  ! "  and  he  relapsed  into 
the  office  of  a  listener  with  greatly  augmented 
interest. 

"  There  was  Mr.  Woods  behind  the  bar  just  as 
real  as  life.  '  Hullo,'  says  Mr.  Woods,  '  what's 
the  matter?  You  do  look  queer.'  '  Yuss,  I've 
been  told  that  before,'  I  says.  '  It's  because  I'm 
dead.'  'Well,  I  am  sorry,'  says  Mr.  Woods,  for 
we'd  always  been  a  bit  friendly.  Then  I  called 
for  a  screw  of  bacca,  and  puts  down  the  sov'rin, 
only  looking  very  careful  all  round  to  see  no  one 
didn't  steal  it.  There  was  one  cove  in  partic'lar, 
a  cove  with  a  Glengarry  cap,  what  I  didn't  'alf 
like  the  looks  of,  and  I'd  got  my  eye  on  him  when 
Mr.  Woods  came  and  put  the  change  on  the 
counter.  Just  as  I  was  going  to  take  it  up  that 
bloke  made  a  grab,  and  I  was  so  frightened  to 
think  of  losing  the  money  that  I  turned  round  and 
landed  him  one  as  hard  as  I  could.  Then  I  woke 
up,  and  what  d'yer  think  had  'appened  ?  " 

lt  I  dunno,"  admitted  Gotty. 

"  Why,  blowed  if  I  hadn't  hit  my  old  woman  ! 
All  the  other  part  of  the  dream  hadn't  been  any- 
thing, only  a  dream  ;  but  the  hitting  was  real. 
The  missus  had  copped  most  of  it,  and  my  fist 
had  gone  on  against  the  bed-post,  so  my  hand 
was  cut  pretty  bad.  Well,  the  missus  took  on 
dreadful,  and  before  I  hardly  knew  what'd  hap- 
pened she'd  run  away  screaming  and  locked  the 


36       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

door  behind  her.  She  went  off  to  her  mother, 
what  was  a  bit  of  an  old  cat  ;  so  when  I  broke 
the  door  open  in  the  morning  I  didn't  see  nothing 
of  her.  I  went  off  to  work  jest  the  same  as  usual, 
but  when  I  come  out  of  the  yard  in  the  dinner 
hour  there  were  two  coves  with  a  bit  of  paper. 
'  'Ere,  Vincent,'  they  says  to  me,  '  we've  got  a 
summons  against  you  for  assaulting  your  wife.' 
That  was  the  old  cat — she'd  put  up  the  missus  to 
take  out  a  summons." 

"  Did  she,  though  ! "  commented  Gotty,  with 
indignant  sympathy. 

"  When  I  got  to  the  police  court  I  didn't  'ardly 
know  my  old  woman,  her  face  was  that  wrapped 
up  in  bandages.  She  told  Mr.  Shiel  all  about  it. 
'  We'd  'ad  a  few  words  before  going  to  bed/  she 
says,  and  that  was  right  enough — just  a  little 
jangle  about  money  for  the  'ousekeeping,  though 
I'd  clean  forgotten  all  about  it.  'And  when  I'd 
gone  to  sleep,'  she  says,  '  he  hit  me  a  vilent  blow 
— the  coward ! '  That  was  right  enough,  too, 
though  I  'adn't  meant  to.  '  What  'ave  you  got 
to  say  for  yourself  ? '  says  the  beak,  pretty  savage 
like,  to  me.  '  It  was  all/  I  says,  '  because  I'd  'ad 
a  dream/  I  says.  '  Yuss/  says  Mr.  Shiel,  l  'aving 
those  sort  of  dreams  comes  of  indigestion,  and 
I'm  a-going  to  send  you  to  a  place  where  you 
won't  'ave  indigestion  no  more,  'cos  the  feeding's 
arranged  too  careful.  Six  months  'ard  ! ' ' 

«  Oh  !  " — from  Gotty — «  'e  didn't  'alf  lay  it  on 
thick,  then." 

"  After  this  I  found  myself  in  Wandsworth,  and 


TWO   GRIM   STORIES  37 

a  little  of  Wandsworth  goes  a  long  way,  you  take 
my  word.  I  'adn't  done  nothing  ;  but  they 
couldn't  'ave  treated  me  more  like  a  dog  if  I  killed 
a  perliceman.  You  dersn't  'ardly  open  yer  mouth. 
The  second  day  a  warder  called  me,  and  I  didn't 
'ear  ;  so  he  wanted  to  know  why  I  'adn't  answered 
when  he  spoke  first.  '  'Cos  I  didn't  'ear,'  I  says. 
'  Why  don't  you  talk  louder  ? '  I  says.  Blessed 
if  'e  didn't  report  me  for  impidence,  and  I  got 
three  days  on  bread  and  water.  I  found  out  after 
a  bit  it  don't  do  to  say  anything,  nor  yet  know 
anything,  in  prison  ;  and  if  any  one  comes  along 
and  asks  you  what  you're  doing,  it's  best  to  say, 
'  I  dunno,  sir.'  " 

"  That's  a  true  word,"  murmured  Gotty. 

"  I  'ad  a  visit  from  the  parson  one  day,  and  he 
asks  me  what  I  was  in  for,  and  then  before  I  could 
tell  him  he  looks  at  a  paper  in  his  'and  and  says, 
'  Assaulting  yer  wife  !  Oh,'  he  says,  '  that's  very 
wicked.'  Well,  I  dunno  why  I  said  it,  except  that 
he'd  gone  and  called  me  wicked  without  first 
finding  out  if  I'd  done  it.  So  I  says,  off-hand 
like,  '  Oh,  she  deserved  it ; '  and  then  'e  shook  his 
'ead,  and  said  'e  'oped  I'd  feel  sorry  some  day, 
and  I  never  saw  any  more  of  the  parson  except 
on  Sundays." 

"  And  wery  likely  didn't  want  to,"  commented 
the  commander  of  the  Breadwinner. 

"  'E  could  come  or  'e  could  stay  away — it  didn't 
make  no  odds  to  me,"  testified  the  impartial  ex- 
prisoner.  "  But  I  shan't  never  ferget  a  funny 
thing,  what  'appened  when  I  first  went  there.  I'd 


38        GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

been  three  days  without  eating  any  of  the  black 
bread,  'cos  I  couldn't  fancy  it  ;  and  I  was  so 
hungry  I  was  just  fancying  the  skilly,  which  isn't 
'alf  bad  stuff,  and  you  get  a  good  lot." 

"  So  you  do,"  testified  Gotty.  "  I  know,  fer  I've 
'ad  some,"  he  added  in  a  burst  of  brotherly  con- 
fidence. 

"  Well,  the  warder  come  in  and  filled  my  can, 
and  I  took  it  up  to  drink  it,  when  what  do  I  see 
but  a  big  black  beedle  floating  on  the  top.  I  felt 
that  disappointed  I  set  up  a  'owl  for  the  warder  to 
come  back.  '  What's  all  this  row  about/  he  says. 
'  Look  'ere,'  I  says,  '  'ere's  a  black  beedle.'  '  Well, 
don't  holler/  says  'e,  '  or  the  others  '11  be  wanting 
one,  and  we  'aven't  got  enough  to  go  round/  and 
with  that  he  banged  the  door  again  and  took  him- 
self off.  .  .  .  Hullo!  Jane,  old  girl  I" 

And  the  arrival  of  Mrs.  Smith  served  to  remind 
Gotty  that  it  was  time  we  brought  our  friendly  call 
to  a  conclusion. 


IV 

THE   STRANDED    MARINER 

OTHER  matters  making  their  claim  upon  my  time, 
a  fortnight  elapsed  before,  on  revisiting  Leigh,  I 
found  that  misfortune  had  darkened  the  little  home 
along  the  alley. 

Mrs.  Gotty,  that  round  woman,  gave  me  the  ill 
tidings.  Her  husband  had  ceased  to  command 
the  Breadwinner.  The  promoted  mate  now  guided 
her  helm. 

"  It's  what  had  to  come,"  said  the  good  soul 
quietly.  "  His  mother  owning  the  boat  and  him 
grown  a  fine  young  man,  with  a  good  head-piece, 
they  do  say." 

"  And  Gotty  hasn't  found  another  berth  yet." 

"  No,  sir,  and  I'm  afraid  he's  not  likely  to — not 
before  the  winter.  He's  out  every  day  looking  for 
work ;  for  it's  a  worry,  with  nothing  coming  in, 
and  all  the  expenses  getting  due  ;  and  he  thinks 
it  all  over  in  his  head,  that  perhaps  he  might  do 
this,  and  perhaps  he  might  do  something  else. 
It's  wonderful,  sir,  the  things  he  does  think  of ! " 

Going  to  the  staircase,  she  summoned  her 
husband  by  his  Christian  name,  mentioning  that 
some  one  had  called  to  see  him.  It  might  have 

39 


40      GOTTY  AND  THE  GUVNOR 

been  the  vicar  or  a  rate-collector,  for  any  clue  she 
gave  ;  and  I  was  consequently  the  more  impressed 
by  the  homely  freedom  of  toilet  in  which,  when 
the  creaking  stairs  had  yielded  their  burden,  he 
presented  himself. 

Bare-legged,  and  arrayed  merely  in  a  shirt  and 
knickerbockers,  he  entered  the  parlour  clasping  a 
half-naked  child  in  his  arms. 

He  crushed  my  hand  in  his  great  paw,  and  his 
large  face  lit  with  hearty  greeting.  Gotty  out  of 
work  was  still  the  same  Gotty. 

The  child  nestled  a  little  head  of  curls  against 
his  neck. 

"'E  does  love  'is  uncle,  that  'e  do,"  exclaimed 
the  gratified  fisherman,  patting  the  grubby  little 
cheek.  "  But " — turning  to  me  with  an  injured 
air — "'e  don't  take  no  notice  of  me  in  bed. 
He'll  crawl  to  'is  auntie  and  cuddle  'er,  but  'e 
won't  cuddle  me." 

"  So  you've  left  your  ship,  Gotty  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  was  the  miserable  reply  ;  "  I  ran  'er 
aground." 

"  You  ran  her  aground  ! " 

"  I'd  no  right  to  do  it,  I'll  allow,"  replied  the 
old  fellow  humbly,  "  and  I  never  did  sech  a  thing 
afore.  We  was  comin'  out  of  the  Gut,  and  roundin' 
the  bank  into  deep  water,  but  I  put  her  about 
jest  'alf  a  minute  too  quick,  and  we  went  on  the 
sand.  There  warn't  no  'arm  done  nor  time 
wasted,  fer  the  matter  o'  that,  as  it  give  me  my 
charnse  ter  clean  'er  bottom,  what  she  wanted 
done  wonderful  bad.  So  arter  I'd  scraped  off  the 


THE  STRANDED   MARINER         41 

harnicles,  it  wasn't  two  bowers  afore  we  flitted 
agin,  and  we  went  and  got  four  boxes  of  bait, 
which  was  better  'n  what  most  of  the  other 
borleys  got  that  morning." 

"  But  the  owner  took  a  serious  view  ?  " 

"  It  was  like  this :  when  we  goes  aground,  the 
owner's  son — 'im  as  was  my  mate,  and  a  wery 
good  mate  too — 'e  gits  into  the  punt  and  rows 
ashore,  and  we  never  see  no  more  of  'im  that 
day.  Nat'ral  like,  I  suppose  he  told  'is  mother, 
and  next  day  I  gets  a  letter  ter  say  they  wouldn't 
want  me  no  more  after  the  Saturday.  It  was 
bound  to  'appen  sooner  or  later — 'im  a  grown 
man  now  ;  and  it  ain't  likely,  bein'  a  son  of  the 
owner,  'e  was  always  goin'  to  take  orders  from 
somebody  else." 

"  What's  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  Ah,  now  you've  arsked  me  somethin'.  A  job 
wants  findin' — you  wouldn't  berlieve.  Things  is 
reg'lar  chronic.  I  knowed  there  wasn't  no  charnse 
fer  skipper,  so  I  tries  to  git  took  on  as  mate.  But 
there  ain't  no  boat  what  wants  a  mate,  and  several 
waitin'  ter  go  !  So  I  thought,  well,  I  won't  be 
done — fer  I  can't  abear  walkin'  the  streets  and 
nothin'  to  do.  It  gives  me  the  fair  sick.  I  ain't 
like  some — 'angin'  about,  day  after  day,  week  after 
week,  and  wouldn't  say  thank  you  if  you  give  'em 
a  job.  I  like  a  bit  of  graft,  and  always  did — 
what's  more,  my  food  don't  taste  comfertable,  if 
you  understand  my  meanin',  when  I  ain't  doin' 
nothin'.  So  I  tries  if  there  was  a  charnse  of  a 
bit  o'  sand-'eavin'  or  unloadin'  barges — which  is 


42       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

work  I've  bin  used  to,  and  got  my  own  fly-tool 
and  all.  But  that  ain't  no  better — you'll  find  six 
or  a  dozen  waitin'  where  there's  only  work  fer 
one." 

I  was  deeply  grieved  to  find  my  old  friend  not 
merely  deposed  from  his  dignified,  and  presumably 
lucrative  command,  but  reduced  to  hunt  humbly 
for  any  odd  job  that  a  callous  world  might  have 
to  offer  ;  and,  surprised  and  indignant  to  find  a 
skipper's  tenure  of  office  so  insecure,  I  presently 
found  myself  offering  this  sage  counsel : 

"  You  ought  to  have  your  own  fishing  smack, 
Gotty.  Then  you  couldn't  be  dismissed,  and 
you  would  pocket  the  owner's  share  as  well  as 
the  skipper's  ; "  and  indeed  this  is  a  world  in 
which  nearly  all  the  beautiful  logic  is  uttered  by 
theorists. 

As  for  Gotty,  he  could  not  have  smiled  in  a 
more  abashed  and  school-girl  fashion  if  I  had  told 
him  he  ought  to  be  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. 

"  Do  you  'appen  ter  know,"  he  asked,  "  what  a 
borley  costs  ?  You  can't  get  a  noo  'un — not  if 
you  'ave  it  built — under  three  'undred  and  twenty 
pound ! " 

"  Well,"  I  retorted  (for  your  idealist  is  impatient 
of  mere  practical  facts),  "  why  haven't  you  saved 
some  money  and  bought  a  second-hand  one  ?  " 

"  Because,"  he  replied  with  deliberation — and 
preceding  the  remark  by  dramatically  placing  the 
half-naked  child  on  the  floor — "  because  I'm  a 
fool.  There  you  are :  I  can't  say  fairer  than 


THE  STRANDED   MARINER        43 

that.  Still ! "  he  conscientiously  added,  as  though 
anxious  to  deal  out  even-handed  justice  even  to 
himself,  "  I  ain't  saved  the  money — like  many 
more.  So  what's  the  good  o'  talkin'  ?  " 

Yet  out  of  a  subject  apparently  so  barren  of 
utility,  he  nevertheless  did  manage  to  extract  (and 
I  welcomed  this  evidence  of  the  buoyant  optimism 
which  I  had  suspected  as  an  important  element  in 
his  engaging  character)  some  faint  possibility  of 
fruitfulness. 

"  If  you  might  'appen  to  know  anybody,"  he 
remarked,  in  dulcet  accents,  "  what'd  like  ter  own 
a  borley,  or " — his  mind  giving  birth  to  a  still 
more  rosy  fancy — "  if  you  could  'andle  a  bit  o' 
money  yourself  as  you'd  like  ter  see  bring  in  a  bit 
more,  I  could  keep  my  eyes  open  fer  one  goin' 
cheap." 

The  dreamer  and  the  practical  man  had  abruptly 
changed  places. 

I  assured  him,  promptly  and  sincerely,  that, 
greatly  as  I  should  rejoice  in  an  opportunity  to 
engage  him  for  skipper,  I  could  not  contemplate 
the  necessary  preliminary  of  becoming  owner,  as, 
among  my  most  unlicensed  aspirations,  the  pos- 
session of  a  fishing  smack  had  never  found  a 
place,  and  as,  moreover,  I  should  hesitate  to 
engage  in  a  business  to  which  I  had  been  a  life- 
long stranger. 

In  reply  to  the  remarks  of  which  I  have  given 
a  bald  summary,  Gotty  said,  cheerfully  enough : 

"  As  fur  as  not  knowin'  nothin'  about  it  goes, 
that  don't  matter  at  all.  You  don't  'ave  ter  know 


44       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

nothin'  about  it,  not  if  you're  the  owner  !  I  could 
easy  look  after  the  boat,  and  see  that  nothin' 
didn't  go  wrong." 

But,  let  the  way  be  never  so  smooth,  I  refused 
to  contemplate  that  short-cut  to  opulence. 

"  You  may  think  diff' rent,"  said  far-seeing 
Gotty,  "  when  you've  turned  it  over  in  your 
mind." 

Meanwhile,  by  way  of  putting  time  to  more 
practical  use,  I  asked  if  he  had  literally  earned 
no  money  since  leaving  the  bawley. 

"  I  'ad  one  bit  o'  luck,"  he  testified — "  a  little 
coal-boat  from  the  'Umber  what  puts  'er  stuff 
ashore  'ere.  Comes  up  in  the  night  she  does 
mostly ;  and  luck's  the  right  word  fer  it,  too. 
There  was  two  others  gone  out  arter  the  job  afore 
me,  but  I  didn't  know  that  till  I  see  'em  asleep  in 
their  boat  made  fast  agin  the  'ead  of  Southend 
pier.  They'd  got  tired  of  waitin',  seemin'ly,  so 
I  didn't  wake  'em  up,  pore  dears,  but  took  and 
rowed  away  ter  the  east'ard,  and  it  wasn't  much 
arter  three  when  the  coal-boat  come  along, 
and,  being  first  aboard,  I  got  the  job  ter  'elp 
unload  'er." 

"  Do  you  go  out  in  your  own  dinghey  ?  " 

"  No,  it's  one  I  borrer.  I've  got  a  punt  of  my 
own — leastways,  I  'ad  one,  fer  she  don't  keep  the 
water  out  now,  and  too  old  for  mendinV 

"  So  you  can't  do  any  fishing  ?  " 

"  Well,  I've  been  thinking" — and  Gotty  scratched 
his  head  thoughtfully — "there's  a  place  I  know 
where  you  can  wade  out  when  the  water's  up, 


THE   STRANDED  MARINER        45 

and  catch  'em  among  the  reeds  in  yer  'and.  That's 
what  I'm  going  to  try  next,  and  I've  made  a  basket 
a  purpose." 

From  a  cupboard,  with  loving  hands,  he  drew 
forth  a  large,  flat  basket,  ingeniously  faced  with 
a  net. 

"  If  nothing  else  ain't  no  good,"  said  the  ex- 
skipper  bravely,  "  there's  'awkin'.  But  I  'ope  it 
won't  come  to  'awkin'.  It's  fair  'eart-breaking, 
awkin'  is.  I  know,  becos  I've  tried." 

"  You've  tried  a  good  many  things  ?  " 

"  And  p'raps  you'd  be  surprised  what  brought 
in  most  money.  Selling  cockles  in  the  Walworth 
Road  is  what  I  did  best  at.  I  catched  'em  down 
'ere  in  the  morning,  and  sold  'em  up  in  London 
nice  and  fresh  the  same  evening.  But  all  that 
got  altered  when  so  many  costers  took  it  up,  and 
they  buy  'em  cheaper  in  the  market  than  it  pays 
you  to  take  'em  up  yourself." 

"  You  had  a  regular  pitch  ?  " 

«  Yes — always  the  same  spot,  and  lots  of  people 
wouldn't  buy  cockles  from  no  one  else.  They 
got  to  know  mine  was  clean  and  fresh,  and  some- 
times I'd  turn  over  six  and  twenty  shillin's — all  in 
'a'porths  and  'alf  pints.  One  night — jest  ter  show 
yer — I  got  through  four  quarts  of  winegar.  That 
was  the  day  I  saw  somethin'  what  gives  me  the 
cold  creeps  to  think  of — one  of  them  awful 
Whitechapel  murders." 

"Indeed!" 

"  I'd  bought  a  large  feather  bed  and  a  'anging 
lookin' -glass  with  part  of  the  money,  and  after  I'd 


46       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

took  my  stall  to  the  lodgin'  'ouse,  I  put  the  bed 
and  lookin'-glass  on  my  'ead,  and  carried  "em  to 
Fenchurch  Street,  where  I  give  a  perliceman  six- 
pence ter  mind  'em.  You  see,  there  wasn't  no 
train  for  a  hower  or  so,  and  I  thought  I'd  jest 
'ave  a  little  walk  nice  and  comfertable.  Going 
through  Tooley  Street  I  see  a  perliceman  bendin' 
over  somethin',  and  when  I  come  up,  that's  what 
it  was — the  pore  thing  quite  dead,  and  a  sight  I 
never  shall  forgit.  What  was  funny,  I  knew  the 
perliceman,  and  'e  knew  me,  along  o'  'im  'aving 
bin  stationed  at  Southend.  '  Ponto,'  'e  says  ter 
me — fer  that's  one  of  the  names  I'm  called  by — 
'  Ponto,  if  you'd  bin  'ere  a  few  minutes  ago,  you'd 
'ave  seed  a  awful  deed  ! '  When  I  got  'ome  to 
Leigh  that  morning  I  didn't  want  no  brekfast. 
It's  the  worst  turn  I  ever  'ad — no  ;  I'm  tellin'  a 
lie.  I  fergot  the  railway  accident  what  me  and 
the  missis  was  in  ! " 

"  When  was  that  ?  " 

"  When  I  was  bringin'  'er  'ome  from  Chems- 
ford,  where  she'd  bin  spendin'  a  week's  'oliday 
arter  'aving  the  fever.  You  never  'card  sech  a 
bang,  and  the  carriage  we  was  in  run  'alf  up  the 
bank.  There  was  a  colligion  betwixt  me  and  the 
missis,  what  had  bin  sitting  oppersite  one  another ; 
and  arter  it  was  all  over  a  gentleman  come  up — 
a  nice-spoken  gentleman,  'e  was,  and  wanted  ter 
know  if  we  was  'urt — and  when  I  told  'im  about 
the  missis  'aving  jest  'ad  the  fever,  'e  arsked  if  I'd 
take  ten  pound  and  say  no  more  about  it.  '  Wery 
good,  sir,'  I  says,  so  they  gave  me  the  money,  and 


THE   STRANDED   MARINER         47 

I  don't  mind  'ow  soon  I  git  another  charnse  like  it. 
Fer  that  ten  pound  come  in  wonderful  'andy,  and 
we  didn't  'ave  no  bones  broken — only  my  missis's 
bonnet  bein'  stove  in,  she  'aving  butted  me  fair  in 
the  face." 

Conversation  passing  to  Leigh  regatta,  fixed  for 
the  following  Saturday,  I  was  not  a  little  touched 
to  find  that  the  old  champion  proposed  to  abstain 
from  the  greasy  pole  competition. 

"  Yuss,"he  said,  without  spirit,  "  I'll  stand  aside 
fer  some  one  else  ter  git  it.  Yer  see,  what  with 
worry,  and  not  'aving  yer  meals  reg'lar,  some'ow  I 
don't  seem  ter  care  about  it  this  year.  And  I 
dessay,"  he  added  thoughtfully,  "  I  ain't  quite  so 
young  as  I  once  was  ;  and  a  shillin'  to  enter  yer 
name,  and  all !  No  ;  I've  'ad  my  innin's." 

At  least  I  could  claim  a  friend's  privilege  to  put 
down  his  name,  leaving  him  to  compete  or  not  as 
might  be  determined  by  his  inclination  on  the  day  ; 
and,  this  point  settled,  I  proceeded  to  open  up  a 
new  subject  for  thought,  which  chanced  to  be  one 
falling  within  the  narrower  scope  of  my  own 
domestic  interests,  to  wit,  the  necessity  under 
which  I  laboured  to  raise  a  shed  in  my  back 
garden,  spaces  under  the  flooring  having  proved 
a  congenial  residence  for  a  rat. 

At  the  word  "  rat,"  Gotty  looked,  as  I  was  no 
less  surprised  than  pleased  to  see,  ten  years 
younger  ;  and,  upon  his  kindly  and  earnest  sug- 
gestion, it  was  decided  that,  on  the  following 
afternoon,  he  should  come  over  to  Westcliff  and 
lend  a  hand  in  hoisting  the  little  wooden  building. 


48       GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

The  attitude  of  average  British  manhood  towards 
creatures  of  the  class  I  have  named,  has  ever  been 
a  subject  of  respectful  mystification  to  me  ;  and 
the  morrow  added  to  my  experience  of  a  baffling 

human  enigma.  Gottycame 
to  my  house  in  the  com- 
pany of  a  short  man  carry- 
ing an  empty  sack  ;  and 
two  children  arriving  at  a 
Christmas  party  could  not 
have  worn  expressions  of 
more  eager  and  cheerful 
interest. 

Yet  it  immediately  be- 
came manifest  that  the  little 
man's  mental  complacency 
was  seared  by  one  sharp 
regret. 

"  I  oughter  'a  brought 
my  dawg ! "  he  told  me, 
even  while  I  was  still  a 
stranger  to  his  identity, 
and  knew  not  to  what  I 
owed  the  pleasure  of  his 
society. 

"  Bert  Williams  ! "  exclaimed  Gotty,  with  an 
introductory  jerk  of  his  thumb.  "  'E  arsked  if  'e 
mightn't  come  and  lend  a  'and,  seein'  'e's  'ad  a 
deal  ter  do  with  rats.  Only,  that  torpeder  'aving 
made  me  late,  I  wouldn't  let  'im  go  'ome  fer  'is 
terrier.  Did  yer  'ear  about  old  Salters'  pickin'  up 
the  torpeder  ?  No !  Oh,  a  reg'lar  beauty,  all 


A  short  man  carrying  an 
empty  sack. 


THE   STRANDED   MARINER         49 

shinin'  lovely.  'E  brought  it  ashore  larst  night. 
It  wouldn't  'ave  bin  'alf  an  hour  after  you  was 
gorn.  And  another  thing  !  .  .  .  " 

Guilty  of  the  solecism  of  whispering  in  company, 
Gotty  leaned  forward  and  imparted  into  my  private 
ear  the  welcome  tidings  that,  the  mate  of  a  shrimp- 
ing bawley  having  fallen  ill,  he  had  been  tem- 
porarily engaged  in  the  invalid's  place. 

Meanwhile  the  little  man  was  growing  impatient, 
and  his  inquiry  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  rat 
impelled  me,  without  further  loss  of  time,  to  lead 
my  visitors  to  the  back  of  the  premises. 

Their  first  concern  was  to  proceed  on  tiptoe 
along  each  side  of  the  shed,  earnestly  scrutinising 
its  base  and  exchanging  thoughts  in  an  impressive 
undertone.  Then  the  little  man,  unloosening  a 
red  kerchief  from  around  his  neck,  stuffed  it  with 
silent  precision  into  a  hole  his  expert  eye  had 
detected  at  one  end  of  the  structure  ;  while  Gotty, 
working  swiftly  with  pieces  of  broken  flower-pot 
and  a  handful  of  mould,  sealed  up  a  similar  aper- 
ture at  the  other  end. 

Walking  and  talking  now  with  greater  freedom, 
they  set  about  overhauling  my  garden  properties 
in  search  of  implements  suitable  to  their  needs. 
A  spade,  a  fork,  a  stout  piece  of  timber,  and  seven 
bricks  were  placed,  handy  for  use,  on  one  side  of 
the  shed  ;  and,  still  with  an  eye  to  accessory 
weapons  of  offence,  Gotty  critically  regarded  the 
garden  roller.  But  his  preference  proved  to  lie 
elsewhere,  and  he  added  the  coal  hammer  and  a 
birch  broom  to  the  varied  armoury. 

D 


50      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

If  in  these  formidable  preparations  I  lent  no 
active  co-operation,  the  explanation  lay  in  the 
circumstance  that,  so  far  from  desiring  the  rat 
to  be  killed — let  alone  annihilated — I  personally 
harboured  no  worse  wish  concerning  him  than 
that  he  should  make  his  home  elsewhere.  Nay, 
he  had  been  welcome  to  retain  the  lodging  of  his 
choice  (for  no  one  could  desire  a  more  gentle- 
mannered  old  rat  than  he  had  shown  himself  to 
be,  on  the  several  occasions  of  my  seeing  him 
come  forth  to  eat  crumbs  thrown  down  for 
sparrows)  wrere  it  not  that,  in  the  feminine  ele- 
ment of  my  household,  misgivings  were  based  on 
the  possibility  of  the  pioneer  rodent  establishing  a 
colony  of  his  kind. 

But  a  feeling  of  delicacy  forbade  me  to  com- 
municate these  sentiments  to  my  two  visitors, 
whose  labours  had  now  entered  a  critical  stage. 
Having  levered  up  a  corner  of  the  shed  (and  here 
a  clothes'  prop  came  in  handy)  by  adroit  pressure 
of  their  feet,  they  loomed  above  the  resulting 
crevice  with  an  upraised  selection  of  the  instru- 
ments of  destruction  that  I  have  enumerated. 

But,  to  my  secret  relief,  the  rat  came  not  forth 
to  his  doom  ;  so  that  my  strategists  adopted  the 
expedient  of  prodding  for  their  quarry  with  a  second 
clothes'  prop.  A  negative  result  also  attending  these 
searching  measures,  muscular  Gotty  raised  the 
opposite  end  of  the  shed  a  discreet  inch  or  so 
what  time  his  nimble  associate,  the  fork  in  one 
hand  and  two  bricks  in  the  other,  kept  watch  and 
ward  almost  simultaneously  on  all  sides  of  the 


THE   STRANDED   MARINER         51 

building.  And  presently,  dignity  yielding  to 
doubt,  the  pair  of  hunters  were  upon  their  hands 
and  knees,  peering  in  disgust  down  each  vacant 
space  between  the  joists. 

Having  encountered  Mr.  Bert  Williams'  gaze  of 
stony  suspicion,  I  was  in  a  measure  relieved  when, 
in  the  form  of  nibbled  paper,  Gotty  in  some  ex- 
citement drew  forth  a  handful  of  unimpeachable 
evidence  to  my  bona-fides.  However,  it  could  no 
longer  be  doubted  that  this  rat-hunt  was  lacking 
in  a  vital  factor  ;  and  accordingly,  with  a  painful 
abatement  of  zeal,  the  baulked  enthusiasts  occupied 
themselves  in  sheering  up  the  shed  to  my  require- 
ments, free  ingress  of  light  to  the  area  below  the 
floor  being  calculated,  as  I  conjectured,  to  correct 
its  character  as  a  rendezvous  for  rats. 

Later,  a  strange  thing  came  to  pass.  My 
visitors  were  already  refreshing  themselves,  after 
their  labours,  with  afternoon  tea  on  the  lawn, 
when  I  espied  the  rat — all  indifferent  to  the  fact 
that  I  had  company,  and  with  the  jaded  air  of  one 
who,  having  travelled  far,  was  glad  to  be  home 
again — ambling  through  my  snap-dragons  in  the 
direction  of  the  shed.  This  tardy  arrival  of  the 
game,  when  the  hunt  was  all  over,  so  scattered 
my  wits  that,  without  a  thought  for  the  conse- 
quences, I  cried : 

"  There  he  goes  !  " 

Instantly  the  little  man  had  exchanged  his  tea- 
cup for  the  spade,  while  Gotty,  in  place  of  a 
biscuit,  was  brandishing  a  brick.  Having  thrust 
the  broom  into  my  hand,  he  took  upon  himself 


52       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

the  command  of  the  field.  Posting  his  ally  at  the 
shrubbery  into  which  the  startled  rat  had  retreated, 
he  ordered  me  to  the  opposite  flower-border,  and 
himself  rushed  off  to  the  strawberry  bed. 

So  swift  were  the  developments  that  I  had  no 
time  for  a  warning  shout,  expressive  of  concern 
for  my  plants,  when,  by  great  good  luck,  the  rat 
reappeared  in  my  sphere  of  operations.  As  he 
ran  along  the  border,  I  ran  beside  him  along  the 
gravel  walk,  and,  ere  there  was  time  for  reinforce- 
ments to  arrive,  he  had  found  a  hole  in  the  fence, 
and  gone  safely  into  the  next-door  garden. 

I  turned  to  behold  two  faces  aghast  with  the 
spirit  of  protest. 

"Why  didn't  you  'it  'im  ?  "  "Why  didn't  yer 
jab  'im  with  the  broom  ?  "  they  asked  in  unison. 

"  Because,"  I  explained,  "  I  did  not  want  to 
hurt  my  flowers  ; "  and  the  look  on  Mr.  Bert 
Williams'  face,  when,  five  minutes  later,  I  parted 
from  him  at  the  front  gate,  clearly  revealed  the 
opinion  that,  though  he  did  not  mind  taking  the 
shilling,  I  was  no  sportsman. 


V 

OFF   THE   POLE 

AFTER  the  fatigues  of  the  chase,  Gotty  and  I  took 
a  gentle  stroll  ;  and  he  gave  me  copious  details  of 
an  affair  that  had  made  a  vivid  impression  on  his 
mind. 

It  seemed  that  old  Salters,  chancing  to  be  look- 
ing over  the  side  of  his  bawley,  saw  the  bright 
torpedo  approaching  through  the  ripples  at  the 
propulsion  of  the  tide — a  sight  that  would  have 
been  sufficiently  disconcerting  to  a  timid  person. 
But  old  Salters,  a  stranger  to  hysteria,  lost  no 
time  in  hitching  a  piece  of  rope  around  the  fear- 
some thing,  his  gratification  at  removing  a  peril  to 
shipping  being  strengthened  by  thoughts  of  the 
reward  that  might  reasonably  be  expected  from  a 
grateful  Navy. 

At  the  parental  command,  his  sons  got  into  the 
dinghey,  and  rowed  their  prize  to  Leigh. 

Gotty,  when  he  heard  of  the  strange  capture 
just  landed  at  the  jetty,  seemed  to  have  acted  with 
considerable  discretion. 

"  I  didn't  go  anywheres  nigh  it,"  he  assured  me. 

"  It  were  loaded,  don't  I  tell  yer  ! "  was  his  dig- 
nified rebuke  at  a  word  of  scepticism  I  presently 


54       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

let  fall.  "  This  mornin'  I  see  a  lot  o'  shiny  stuff 
on  the  shore — like  glowworms  ;  and  young  Alf 
Thompson  says  to  me,  '  D'yer  know  what  that  is, 
Ponto  ? '  *  No,'  I  says,  '  I  don't  ; '  and  no  more 
I  didn't.  '  It's  what  they've  took  out  of  that 
torpeder,'  'e  says  ;  and  when  I  come  ter  look  at 
the  torpeder,  what  'ad  bin  locked  up  all  night  in 
the  shed,  they  showed  me  where  its  innards  was 
all  clent  out.  The  way  them  coastguards  'ad  fixed 
it  up,  a  baby  might  'ave  played  with  it.  That  shiny 
stuff  was  the  part  as  goes  off,  and  I  didn't  mind  'ow 
soon  the  tide  come  up  and  washed  it  away.  .  .  . 
Well,  did  you  ever  ! " 

Within  two  miles  of  his  ancient  fishing  village, 
Gotty  was  nevertheless  on  unfamiliar  ground. 
The  broad  thoroughfare  of  Westcliff  shops  had, 
on  a  sudden,  hypnotised  him. 

Presently  the  awed  reverie  was  broken : 

"  If  any  one  was  ter  step  out  of  the  grave  now, 
'avin'  knowed  this  as  a  brickfield,  they'd  open  their 
eyes,  I  know  they  would  ! " 

He  stopped  before  a  hosier's,  and  gazed  with 
the  parted  jaws  of  astonishment  at  a  window 
dressed  throughout  with  gentlemen's  ties. 

"  I  never  'ad  one  on  only  wunst,"  came  the 
dreamy  reminiscence.  "  It  was  my  weddin'  day, 
and  my  wife's  sister  come  and  'itched  it  on.  Talk 
about  feelin'  silly — I  went  about  fair  ashamed." 

Proceeding  a  few  more  paces,  he  again  paused, 
his  eye  enthralled  by  a  tobacconist's  barricade  of 
dainty  tins  and  packets. 

"  Don't  they  get  'em  up  smart !     Not  'alf  they 


OFF  THE   POLE  55 

don't  ;  "  and  the  glowing  vision  served  to  remind 
him  that,  some  weeks  before,  a  gentleman  gave 
him  a  brightly-encased  ounce  like  one  of  those. 
"  And  I  ain't  smoked  it  yet,"  he  added  impressively. 

"  How  is  that?"  I  asked. 

"  Oppertoonity's  a  fine  thing,"  he  replied,  with  a 
wink  that  deepened  the  mystery.  "  Why,  it  was 
this  way.  When  I  got  'ome  and  showed  it  to  the 
missis,  she  says,  '  Give  it  to  me  ; '  and  she  took  it. 
'  I'm  a-going  to  keep  that  in  a  safe  place,'  she 
says,  'and  one  day  you  shall  'ave  it  fer  a  surprise.' 
If  I've  arsked  'er  fer  that  terbacca  wunst,  I  suppose 
I've  arsked  'er  a  'undred  times.  But  it's  always 
*  No  ;  you  ain'  a-going  to  'ave  it.'  What  she 
means  by  it  I  dunno." 

I  frivolously  remarked,  "  Perhaps  she  intends  to 
smoke  it  herself " — words  immediately  regretted  ; 
for  Gotty  put  me  to  shame  by  supposing  me 
serious. 

"No,"  he  said,  with  simple  earnestness,  "she 
don't  smoke.  Nor  snuff,"  he  added,  with  solemn 
enthusiasm.  "  Nor  spirits  or  lickers  of  any  sort. 
Only  beer.  Now  and  again  she  might  fancy  a 
glass  of  beer,  but  not  often." 

Loth  to  be  discussing  a  lady  behind  her  back,  I 
asked  if  Leigh  fishermen  had  ever  caught  a  torpedo 
before. 

"  They  may  'ave  ;  I  dunno,"  Gotty  replied. 
"  Only  there's  one  what  ain't  loaded  that  nobody 
'asn't  caught  yet,  and  not  fer  the  want  of  tryin' ! 
It's  on  the  bottom  off  Sheernest,  and,  like  many 
more,  I've  sometimes  got  the  ground  rope  ath'art 


56       GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

it,  and  'auled  in  slow  and  careful,  seein'  there's  a 
reward  offered  fer  those  as  picks  it  up.  But  it 
always  falls  free  !  It  must  be  nigh  on  eight  year 
we've  bin  trying  after  that  torpeder,  and  sometimes 
I  get  afraid  it'll  all  rust  away  and  nobody  'ave  the 
reward." 

Conversation  turning  to  the  forthcoming  regatta, 
I  found  Gotty  disposed,  on  second  thoughts,  to  risk 
his  reputation  on  the  greasy  pole. 

When,  on  the  day,  I  put  in  a  somewhat  belated 
appearance  at  the  festival,  there,  sure  enough,  was 
the  local  champion  in  process  of  being  rowed  out 
to  the  barge. 

There  was  a  calm,  with  plenty  of  sunshine  and 
spectators.  Strange  craft  with  brown  sails  had 
come  from  neighbouring  anchorages  to  look  on. 
Competing  yachts  loitered  in  the  middle  distance 
like  a  cloud  of  drugged  butterflies.  But  I  was 
looking  at  the  figure  in  the  boat. 

In  white  ducks,  blue  jersey,  and  the  purple 
sleeve  cap  of  a  pirate,  the  upright  veteran,  with 
his  big  black  eyebrows  and  square  white  beard, 
his  head  so  proudly  poised,  caused  a  public  sensa- 
tion. 

"There's  Gotty — there  he  goes!"  yelled  the 
excited  juniors. 

"  If  Ponto  ain't  a-going  in  for  it  again  ! "  cried 
an  admiring  old  soul,  hatless  and  in  her  apron. 

A  group  of  brother-fishers  bent  their  eyes  on 
the  dinghey  with  a  marked  absence  of  fervour. 

"  At  'is  time  of  life  ! "  commented  one  tartly. 

"He's  a  old    fool,"   argued   another,   "not    to 


OFF   THE   POLE 


57 


know  'e  can't  do  what  'e  could.  A  young  'un's 
game,  too  !  It  stands  ter  reason." 

"  We  shall  see,"  said  a  third  darkly,  "  what  we 
shall  see." 

Gotty  had  boarded  the  barge,  and  I  saw  him  in 


I  stood  on  the  crowded  jetty  jammed  beside  an  old  hawker. 

cheerful  conversation  with  members  of  the  com- 
mittee. Then  he  went  to  the  vessel's  stern,  and,  to 
the  delight  of  the  massed  youth  of  Leigh,  danced 
on  one  leg  what  time  he  gaily  brandished  its 
fellow  in  the  air.  Next  he  stepped  to  the  bow, 
and  waggishly  shook  his  left  fist  at  the  small  flag 
exhibited  at  the  end  of  the  greasy  pole. 


58       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

All  this  while  he  drank  in  the  popular  applause, 
his  face  aglow  with  gratification.  It  was  his  hour. 
Once  again  he  stood  forth  to  vindicate  his  supre- 
macy in  the  arena  of  accustomed  triumph — once 
more  he  was  going  to  show  them. 

I  stood  on  the  crowded  jetty  jammed  beside  an 
old  hawker  in  whose  basket  lay  a  dead  rabbit.  He 
had  long  gazed  open-eyed,  and  now  his  thoughts 
found  tongue. 

"  Crikey  !  That's  the  bloke  I  saw  walk  the  pole 
at  Southend  twenty  year  ago.  It's  'im — I'll  lay 
me  oath  it's  'im.  The  ole  sport ! "  And  resting 
an  open  palm  against  his  right  cheek,  he  rapturously 
yelled  "  Bravo  !  " 

For  a  little  time  Gotty  was  lost  to  sight,  and 
when  he  reappeared  his  toilet  had  undergone  a 
transformation.  In  a  thin  cotton  shirt  and  old 
duck  trousers  he  was  ready  for  the  water. 

The  throng  growing  irksome,  I  elbowed  my  way 
to  the  stairs,  where  I  found  an  elderly  fisherman 
willing  to  row  me  out  to  the  flotilla  of  dingheys 
encircling  the  barge. 

"  I'd  like  to  see  Gotty  win,"  was  my  attempt  to 
open  up  a  little  conversation. 

"Well,  'e  ain't  goin'  to,"  curtly  rejoined  the 
fisherman,  and  we  temporarily  relapsed  into  a  cold 
silence. 

"  Gotty  always  has  won,  hasn't  he  ? "  I  said, 
trying  again. 

"That's  the  one  what's  going  to  win,"  replied 
the  old  man  severely,  as  he  pointed  to  a  fine 
young  fellow  who,  arrayed  in  a  swimming  costume, 


OFF   THE   POLE  59 

was  about  to  open  the  competition.  il  That's  Fred 
Burroughs,  that  is,  and  new  to  the  game,  but  'e's 
going  to  do  all  the  winning  for  some  years,  you 
mark  my  words." 

Burroughs  walked  three  steps  along  the  pole 
and  calmly  dived  off.  Then  came  old  Gotty,  who 
did  the  same.  For  their  obvious  want  of  effort  I 
was  prepared  by  the  knowledge  that,  by  a  rule  of 
the  competition,  success  must  be  preceded  by  at 
least  three  failures. 

Then  came  some  half-dozen  youngsters  who, 
by  promptly  and  unintentionally  losing  their 
foothold  of  the  slippery  spar,  caused  spasms  of 
public  pleasure. 

It  all  was  repeated  twice,  the  number  of  acces- 
sory competitors,  however,  manifesting  a  tendency 
to  shrink.  Now  I  began  to  look  in  earnest. 

Burroughs  started  with  great  deliberation,  but 
at  a  third  of  the  distance  equilibrium  was  lost,  and 
he  went  in  with  a  heavy  splash. 

And  now  Gotty.  Absolutely  confident,  he 
walked  smilingly  along  half  the  length.  Suddenly 
I  saw  the  smile  vanish.  A  foot  had  slipped.  Up 
went  his  hands.  The  heavy  old  chap  fell  into  the 
water  with  a  wet  thud. 

Of  the  novices  there  were  but  two  tough  sur- 
vivors, their  efforts  as  hopeless  as  before. 

Burroughs  again — Burroughs  making  us  all 
hold  our  breath  in  sympathy  with  his  tense 
precautions.  But  it  proved  a  sudden  victory  for 
the  grease  at  the  fourth  step. 

Gotty  now  stood  at  the  bow  with  a  new  expres- 


60      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

sion.  No  grinning  or  shaking  of  fist  now.  He 
had  forgotten  his  audience.  His  mind  was  on  his 
work.  The  thing  was  getting  serious.  He  con- 
descended to  be  very  careful. 

Half  a  length  ;  some  steps  beyond  ;  and  then — 
defeat ;  and  defeat  attended  by  so  ugly  a  contact 
with  the  pole  that  a  shudder  went  up  from  the 
throng,  and  I  grew  anxious.  But  there  was  the 
old  fellow  gamely  swimming  round  to  the  ladder, 
not  a  penny  the  worse. 

I  will  not  trace  the  contest  through  its  further 
stages.  Enough  that,  the  novices  but  seldom 
appearing,  the  two  rivals  tried  and  failed  some 
twenty  times,  each  coming  once  within  some 
inches  of  success.  Then  the  committee  intervened, 
and  the  last  I  saw,  before  surrounding  boats  broke 
into  a  scattering  medley  and  so  spoilt  the  view, 
was  Gotty  in  earnest  altercation  with  the  executive, 
manifestly  preferring  a  claim  to  another  try.  But 
it  was  all  over. 

Coming  ashore,  the  unsuccessful  champion  lost 
no  time  in  visiting  a  popular  rendezvous,  where  he 
danced  a  therapeutic  hornpipe  and  took  other 
successful  measures  against  a  state  of  teeth- 
chattering  and  arrested  circulation. 

When  later  I  joined  him  at  tea,  in  the  little 
home  along  the  alley,  he  proved  to  be  bearing 
up  with  exemplary  fortitude  against  his  recent 
reverse. 

"  It's  no  good  frettin'/'  he  averred.  "  Fifteen 
years  I  got  it,  and  I  ain't  got  it  to-day — only,  mark 
you,  I  wasn't  beat !  " 


OFF  THE   POLE  61 

And  again,  on  a  second  serving  to  shrimps, 
"  I'm  a  good  loser,  ain't  I  ?  No  one  can't  say 
dif'rent." 

But  it  came  to  light  that,  if  fortune  had  withheld 
an  accustomed  favour,  she  had  bestowed  two  that 
lay  outside  the  realm  of  expectations. 

Gotty  had  been  a  mascot  to  the  bawley  on 
which  he  was  serving  as  the  sick  mate's  substitute. 
On  two  nights  out  of  four  they  had  had  the 
felicity  to  happen  on  a  craft  in  difficulties  on  the 
sand  ;  and  in  both  cases  the  offer  of  their  expert 
assistance  had  been  accepted. 

I  gathered  that,  in  affairs  of  this  kind,  the 
requisite  service  can  be  rendered  by  experience 
with  unerring  ease.  The  vessel's  anchor  must  be 
so  placed  that,  when  she  refloats,  she  will  be 
restrained  from  driving  further  on  the  sand.  It 
may  well  be  that  the  unfortunate  captain  can,  on 
the  flood,  withdraw  unassisted  from  peril  ;  and 
thus  the  issue  for  him,  when  obliging  fishermen 
come  hastening  to  the  rescue,  is  apt  to  lie  between 
sovereigns  and  certainty. 

"There  was  only  one  other  borley  along  of  us 
on  Wednesday  night,"  Gotty  explained,  "  and  at 
fust  it  looked  like  ten  pound  a-piece  ;  for  she  was 
a  tidy-sized  schooner.  Only  the  captin  carried  on 
wonderful  'eadstrong.  'E  didn't  want  no  fisher- 
men to  'elp  'im,  'e  said — 'e  could  get  'er  off  all 
right.  '  Beggin'  your  pardin,  sir,'  I  says,'  '  but 
there's  many  thought  the  same  way,  and  bin  sorry 
afterwards.'  '  All  right,  my  man,'  'e  says,  '  when 
I  want  your  opinion,'  'e  says,  <  I'll  ask  for  it.'  Per 


62       GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

a  long  time  'e  wouldn't  'ear  o'  givin'  us  the  job — 
not  till  'e'd  seed  if  'e  couldn't  get  'er  off  next  tide. 
But  arter  a  lot  more  talk  'e  come  round  a  bit  and 
said  we  might  'ave  a  pound  betwixt  us,  but  not  a 
penny  more.  Only  five  shillin's  a  man  !  Money 
like  that  don't  give  yer  no  encouragement  ter  'elp 
people  out  of  trouble,  do  it  ?" 

"  But  you  agreed  to  his  terms  ?  " 

"  We  couldn't  do  nothin'  else,  seein'  if  we'd  stood 
by  'im  'e'd  wery  likely  get  afloat  by  'isself,  and  then 
we  shouldn't  get  nothin',  and  six  howers  lost !  But 
jest  ter  show  you  the  dif'rence  in  people — the 
captin  we  come  ath'art  this  mornin'  talked  all  the 
other  way,  and  a  smaller  vessel,  she  was,  and  no 
cargo.  I  couldn't  'elp  feelin'  sorry  for  the  pore 
ole  feller,  fer  altergether  there  was  twelve  borleys 
come  ter  do  'im  good — like  a  lot  o'  'ungry  sharks  all 
round  'im,  we  was  !  And  'im  so  nice  spoken,  and 
grateful-like,  and  whatever  should  'e  do,  'e  kep' 
sayin',  if  she  went  ter  pieces  !  'E'd  fair  lost  'is 
way,  and  wanted  ter  know  if  the  Shoebury  lights 
wasn't  Thames  'Aven  !  The  ole  chap  'adn't  bin  in 
the  Estu'ry  only  wunst  afore,  and  not  sorry,  I 
shouldn't  wonder,  if  'e  never  come  agin.  Seein'  'e 
was  a  pore  man,  'e  arsked  if  we'd  mind  only  'aving 
a  pound  a  boat  ter  git  im  off.  So,  arter  puttin'  'is 
anchor  out,  we  all  stood  by  'im,  and  'Enry  Morgan, 
what's  a  good  scholar,  went  aboard  and  thumbed 
over  the  chart  with  'im,  so  as  'e  could  find  'is  way 
up  to  Tilbury  without  gettin'  into  no  more  trouble. 
When  'e  got  under  way  agin,  we  all  give  'im  a 
cheer,  and  the  ole  feller  come  ter  the  side  and 


OFF  THE   POLE  63 

waved  'is  'andkerchief.  So,  yer  see,"  Gotty 
summed  up,  "  if  I  ain't  won  the  greasy  pole,  I've 
arned  fifteen  shillin's  extry  money." 

And  it  was  my  privilege  to  afford  additional 
consolation  to  the  cheerful  mariner.  On  playfully 
inquiring  if  he  had  yet  found  a  bawley  for  me  to 
buy,  I  learnt  that,  in  a  manner  of  speaking,  he 
had  two  in  his  enthusiastic  eye.  Moreover,  he 
took  the  matter  in  such  grim  earnest  that  I  found 
myself  conceding  more  serious  consideration  than 
heretofore  to  the  romantic  possibility  of  owning  a 
fishing  smack. 

"  There's  two  for  sale  at  'Arwich,  and  from  what 
I  'ear  there's  a  charnse  of  buyin'  'em  cheap.  One's 
fitted  up  with  a  nice  large  cabin,  it  'aving  bin  used 
fer  a  pilot  cutter ;  so  " —  came  the  astute  reflec- 
tion— "  you  could  take  yer  friends  out  for  a 
cruise  now  and  agin,  and  be  able  ter  make  'em 
comfertable." 

"What  would  you  call  cheap  ?"   I  asked. 

"Well,"  he  ruminated,  "if  you  got  the  lot — 
wessel,  sails,  and  gear — fer  a  'undred  pound,  that 
wouldn't  be  out  of  the  way,  would  it  ?  " 

"  No,"  I  was  fain  to  admit,  though  I  pointed  out 
that,  comparatively  paltry  as  the  sum  might  seem, 
I  should  hesitate  to  apply  a  hundred  pounds  on 
so  unfamiliar  an  enterprise,  notwithstanding  the 
pleasure  I  should  take  in  affording  a  means  of 
livelihood  to  a  certain  worthy  individual. 

"Well,"  he  commented,  nothing  downhearted, 
"  I  won't  say  as  we  mightn't  get  fitted  out  for 
eighty  pounds.  It'd  be  an  old  borley  fer  that, 


64      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

but  an  old  'un  '11  catch  as  many  shrimps  as  what 
a  noo  'un  will.  You'd  get  the  same  money,  mind 
yer,  as  what  I  should.  Every  shillin'  'arned  works 
out  fourpence  fer  the  skipper,  fourpence  fer  the 
mate,  and  fourpence  fer  the  owner  ;  only,  ercourse, 
the  owner  'as  ter  find  the  boat  in  noo  gear,  and 
anythin'  else  what  she  'appens  ter  want.  This 
larst  year  or  two,  shrimpin*  'as  paid  wonderful 
well,  not  'alf  it  ain't." 

In  the  end  I  entrusted  seven  and  sixpence  to 
Gotty,  so  that,  on  his  first  free  day,  he  could 
proceed  to  Harwich  and  gain  full  particulars  of 
such  suitable  bargains  as  might  be  afloat. 


VI 

AT  PETTY  SESSIONS 

A  FORTNIGHT  having  run  by,  and  still  no  news  of 
Gotty  or  my  seven  and  sixpence,  I  proceeded  to 
Leigh  in  the  spirit  of  an  investigator. 

As  I  walked  up  the  little  alley,  the  familiar 
voice  welcomed  me,  but  nowhere  could  I  see  its 
stalwart  possessor,  until,  the  full-chested  har- 
monics sounding  again,  I  beheld  him  cautiously 
crawling  on  the  nine-foot  wall  by  which  that 
thoroughfare  is  bounded  on  the  north. 

"  Bird's-nesting  ?  "  I  asked. 

tl  I've  lost  my  knife,"  he  replied.  "  Fancied 
my  little  nevvy  might  'ave  chucked  it  over.  No, 
mum "  (to  a  woman's  voice  on  the  other  side), 
"  I  don't  see  it.  But  there's  'is  rubber-ball  under 
them  sunflowers." 

Mrs.  Gotty  received  me  in  the  parlour  with  an 
exclamation  of  pleasure,  saying  she  was  glad  to 
see  a  friend,  they  being  in  such  dreadful  trouble. 

What  I      Hadn't  I  heard  ? 

And  from  behind  a  teapot  on  the  mantelshelf 
she  took  a  white  paper  which  certified,  on  the 
information  of  one  Henry  George  Bilbury,  that, 
on  the  previous  Saturday,  Gotty  "did  unlawfully 

6'  E 


66      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

assault  and  beat  the  said  Henry  George  Bilbury 
contrary  to  the  statute."  Gotty  was  ordered  to 
appear  at  the  Petty  Sessional  Court-House  on  the 
following  Thursday. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  good  soul,  lifting  her  apron  to 

remove  the  first  tear 
I  had  seen  glistening 
on  *kat  happy  face, 
"they  will  tantalise 
him,  and  I  was  there 
and  saw  how  it  began, 
though  being  his  wife 
I  suppose  they  won't 
let  me  put  in  a  word 
for  the  old  man  ;  him 
being  tantalised  first, 
and  not  taking  any 
notice,  and  then  he 
knocked  him  down  ; 
and  I  lie  awake 
worrying  to  think  of 
him  p'raps  having  to 
go  to  prison,  and  all 
because  -  " 


Yes,"  said  the  good  soul,  lifting  her 
apron  to  remove  the  first  tear  I  had 
seen  glistening  on  that  happy  face. 


Gotty's  great  form 
filled  the  doorway. 

"  What  if  I  do  ?  "  he  demanded,  with  broad- 
minded  cheerfulness.  "There's  my  betters  gone 
to  prison,  ain't  there  ?  " 

Then,  dismissing  this  minor  matter,  the  hospitable 
old  fellow  bestowed  all  his  energy  upon  transplant- 
ing me  from  a  draughty  corner  to  a  seat  by  the  fire. 


AT   PETTY   SESSIONS  67 

"  But  how  did  it  happen  ?  "  I  was  anxious  to 
learn. 

"  That  ? " — and  Gotty's  thumb  indicated  the 
summons — "  Oh,  me  and  Sparrow  Fraser  was 
talking  when  this  'ere  Bilb'ry  come  and  shoved 
'is  face  in.  Arsked  what  business  I  had  there,  'e 
did,  jest  as  if  a  married  man  with  a  'ouse  hadn't 
as  much  right  outside  the  Smack  as  a  single  man 
living  at  'ome  with  his  father  !  The  'ouses  was 
just  closed,  and  I'd  been  in  the  Peter  Boat,  and 
coming  along  I  met  this  'ere  '  Trouble ' — that's 
what  I  call  him,  it  being  along  of  them  little  pink 
shrimps  gettin'  mixed  with  the  brown  'uns.  We 
was  talking  friendly,  and  then  he  come  and  shoved 
his  face  in.  I  pushed  'im  away,  and  he  framed 
up  ;  then  I  plugged  'im,  and  he  went  down  like  a 
bullock." 

"  <  Trouble  '  did  ?  " 

"  No — the  other  man.  It  was  'Trouble*  I  was 
talking  to  when  he  come  up.  Don't  you  under- 
stand ?  " 

"  Not  quite.  What  was  that  you  said  about 
shrimps  ?  " 

"  It's  when  you  catch  a  lot  o'  little  pink  'uns 
along  o'  the  browns — which  is  the  colour,  you 
understand,  after  they've  been  cooked,  only  you 
can  easy  tell  the  diff'rence  afore  they're  cooked. 
It  don't  do  to  send  'em  all  mixed,  so  you've  got  to 
sort  'em,  and  that's  what  give  me  the  idea  to  call 
Sparrow  Fraser  '  Trouble,'  for  it's  a  reg'lar  trouble 
sorting  'em,  and  when  'im  and  me  was  fishin' 
tergether  he  had  wonderful  bad  luck  with  the 


68       GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

pink  'uns — bowers,  'e'd  be,  picking  'em  over  ;  so 
mostly  when  I  see  'im,  I'll  sing  out,  friendly-like, 
<  Wot-O,  Trouble  1 '  and  very  likely  he'll  gie  me 
back  the  same  word,  '  Hullo,  Trouble  1 '  or  it 
might  be  '  Wotcheer,  Ponto  1 '  'Im  and  me  was 
talking  quiet  and  friendly,  when  this  man  come 
and  shoved  'is  face  in,  which  he  wouldn't  'ave 
done  if  'e  'adn't  been  drunk." 

"  Were  you  drunk  ?  " 

"  Cert'ntly  not — no  more  drunk  than  what  I 
am  now.  I'd  'ad  a  couple  of  three-a'porths  in  the 
Peter  Boat,  where  I'd  been  sittin'  in  the  parler — 
jest  pleasant  and  comfertable,  if  you  know  my 
meanin'.  There's  the  perlicemen  '11  say  I  wasn't 
drunk,  for  I  come  by  two  on  'em  along  the  road, 
and  I  wished  'em  good  night  and  they  wished 
me  good  night." 

"  It's  a  pity,"  said  the  good  wife,  "  you  don't 
give  up  the  beer  altogether,  P'raps  you  wouldn't 
have  took  offence  if  you  hadn't  had  any." 

"  Did  you  ever  'ear  sech  talk  ?  "  he  asked  me,  a 
touch  of  pity  in  his  tone.  Then,  with  judicial 
calm,  to  the  partner  of  his  bosom  :  "  Who  give 
the  fust  offence  ?  " 

"He  did,"  replied  Mrs.  Gotty.  "He  tan- 
talised you  and  you  knocked  him  down.  But 
it's  time  you  kept  out  of  these  bothers,  that's 
what  I  say — you  getting  to  be  an  old  gentleman, 
and  all." 

"  Did  I  know  what  I  was  doin',  or  didn't  I  ?  " 
pursued  the  cross-examiner,  ignoring  her  last 
remark  as  irrelevant. 


AT   PETTY   SESSIONS  69 

"  You  knew  what  you  were  doing,"  conceded 
Mrs.  Gotty,  "  but  I'm  sorry  enough  you  did  it." 

"  Then  if  I  knew  what  I  was  doin',"  Gotty 
summed  up,  "  what's  the  good  of  sech  silly  talk  ? 
These  wimmin  !  "  he  added  thoughtfully,  but  with- 
out following  up  that  line  of  speculation. 

"  What  happened,"  I  asked,  "  after  he  came 
and  interfered  ?  " 

"  He  come  and  arsked  what  business  I  'ad 
there,  so  I  brushed  'im  on  one  side,  quiet  and 
gentle,  and  went  on  talking  ter  Sparrow.  Then 
he  came  along  agin  and  framed  up." 

"  Put  up  his  fists  ?  " 

"  That's  it." 

"  And  what  did  you  do  then  ?  " 

"  Caught  'im  a  smack  acrost  the  face  with  the 
flat  of  my  'and." 

"  And  then  ?  " 

"  He  arsked  for  more,"  explained  Gotty  con- 
fidentially— "  reg'lar  arsked  for  it ;  fer  'e  come 
along  agin  all  framed  up.  So  I  plugged  'im 
one." 

"  You  mean  you  hit  him  a  hard  blow  with  your 
fist  ?  " 

"  A  real  straight  'un,  and  down  he  went  like  a 
bullock.  Then  a  coastguard  come  along  and 
picked  'im  up." 

"  He  never  hit  you  at  all  ?  " 

"'E  never  got  one  in.  I  was  too  quick  for  'im, 
and  'e  was  too  drunk.  There  it  is — now  you've 
got  it ! " 

"  This  is  rather  a  serious  affair,  Gotty." 


yo      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  But  he  give  the  fust  offence  !  That's  what  I 
shall  tell  'em.  Gone  to  a  lawyer,  'e  'ave,  so  I  'ear  ; 
but  I  dessay  'e  didn't  tell  'im  'e  give  fust  offence. 
'  Gentlemen,'  I'll  say,  '  did  'e  come  and  tell  you  'e 
interfered  with  me  fust  ?  '  There's  Rainbow  John- 
son and  Coughing  Smith  and  one  or  two  more 
goin'  ter  give  evidence,  so  I  'ear,  but  we  shall 
know  on  the  day.  I  ain't  afraid  of  what  nobody 
says  so  long  as  they  speak  the  truth.  That's  what 
I'm  going  to  do — I'd  sooner  get  six  months  than 
kiss  the  Book  fer  a  false  oath." 

"  I'm  sure  1 "  said  Mrs.  Gotty,  "  if  you  did,  I 
believe  I'd  get  up  and  contradict  you  myself." 

"  You  won't  be  nervous,  Gotty,  when  you  get  in 
Court  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  should  drop — I'm  sure  I  should,"  interposed 
Mrs.  Gotty. 

"  Pooh  ! "  he  exclaimed,  reassuringly,  "  I  ain't 
that  sort.  I'll  stick  out  my  neck  like  the  old  'erons 
on  the  mud  lookin'  fer  eels.  I  shan't  be  afraid  to 
tell  'em  what  'appened,  and  no  lie  won't  go  past 
me  without  my  pickin'  it  up  and  throwin'  it  back 
at  'em.  'E  begun  it  fust — that's  what  I've  got  to 
make  'em  see.  If  they  send  me  inside  after  that, 
I'll  go,  and  go  cheerful.  But  it  ain't  likely." 

The  situation  being,  however,  one  which  left 
Mrs.  Gotty  a  prey  to  manifest  anxiety,  I  made  bold 
to  request  permission,  in  the  exercise  of  a  friend's 
prerogative,  to  accompany  the  defendant  into  the 
judicial  arena,  so  that,  should  the  Court  demean 
itself  by  a  hostile  decision,  I  should  be  at  hand 
to  meet  any  pecuniary  exaction  of  which,  or 


AT   PETTY   SESSIONS  71 

a  period  of  captivity,  he  might  be  offered  the 
choice. 

At  this,  the  dear  lady's  thanks  were  sufficiently 
voluble,  though  her  husband,  while  obviously 
touched  to  find  some  sparks  of  fraternity  still 
aglow  in  this  cold  world,  hastened  to  discuss  the 
matter  in  its  economic  aspect,  and  with  an  applica- 
tion of  arithmetical  principles  that  was  academic 
in  its  delicate  precision. 

"  Thank  yer,"  he  said  heartily,  "  only  look  'ere 
— if  it's  forty  shillin's  or  seven  days,  that's  mor'n 
what  I'm  arnin',  so  if  you  wouldn't  mind  bein'  so 
good  as  ter  give  the  missis  five-and-twenty  shillin's, 
I'll  be  able  ter  go  inside  with  nothin'  on  my  mind, 
and  glad  o'  the  rest ;  but  if  it  don't  come  out  so 
much  as  five-and-twenty  shillin's  a  week,  then  I'd 
take  it  kindly  ter  'ave  the  fine  paid.  Only  don't 
you  see,  if  it  works  out  more,  we'd  only  be 
throwin'  money  away ! "  in  which  masterly 
examination  of  the  position,  it  will  be  noted,  no 
frivolous  sentiment  was  allowed  to  clog  the  wheels 
of  thrift. 

The  allusion  to  money  turned  my  thoughts  in 
another  direction,  and  I  asked  Gotty  if  he  had  paid 
his  intended  visit  to  Harwich. 

"  Oh  ! "  he  shouted,  his  mind  suddenly  flooded 
by  a  sense  of  uncommunicated  tidings.  "  No,  I 
didn't  get  a  day  ashore.  But  what  d'yer  think  ? 
There  looks  a  chance  of  buying  a  Leigh  boat 
cheap,  the  owner  bein'  pretty  near  too  old  ter  go 
ter  sea,  what  with  the  rheumatics  and  all,  and 
when  he  does  feel  fit  fer  work,  'is  ole  mate's 


72       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

almost  shore  not  ter  fancy  'isself  well  enough  ter 
go  ;  so,  one  with  the  other,  the  boat  nearly  always 
lays  idle,  and  'e  told  me  last  week  'e  thought  'e'd 
sell  'er.  Only  when  I  see  'im  agin  yesterday  and 
said  I  might  know  somebody  what'd  like  ter  buy 
'er,  'e  said  'e'd  changed  'is  mind.  'E'll  change  it 
agin,  I  shouldn't  wonder,  but  I  shall  wait  fer  'im 
to  speak  next  time." 

In  accordance  with  the  understanding  on  which 
we  parted,  Gotty  and  I  met  at  Southend  on  the 
following  Thursday  morning,  and  proceeded  by 
train  to  the  little  country  town  where,  at  Petty 
Sessions,  he  was  to  answer  the  charge  of  unlaw- 
fully assaulting  and  beating  a  man  contrary  to  the 
statute. 

It  was  a  large,  lofty  room,  in  need  of  redecora- 
tion.  On  the  broad  benches  sat  indiscriminately 
applicants,  prosecutors,  defendants,  and  witnesses 
— sorry  and  seedy  humanity  in  the  main. 

Every  one  rose  when  the  three  Justices  entered. 
The  youngest — typical  eldest  son  of  a  county 
family,  and  wearing  a  brown  tweed  suit — took  the 
chair.  His  colleagues  were  middle-aged  gentlemen, 
who  sat  patiently  throughout  the  session,  interfer- 
ing with  no  man. 

Many  cases  preceded  Gotty's.  First  came  the 
anti-vaccination  applicants,  each  stating  a  definite 
objection  with  emphasis,  and  all  securing  ready 
exemption.  Then  several  public-house  licences 
were  transferred  from  respectable  persons  to 
persons  equally  respectable. 


AT   PETTY  SESSIONS  73 

Next  came  the  rate-collector  and  his  protesting 
or  beseeching  victims.  Their  arguments  all  met 
this  answer  from  the  Bench — "Judgment  war- 
rant ! "  One  man  had  occupied  his  house  only 
six  weeks,  and  had  regularly  paid  rent  which, 
under  his  agreement  with  the  landlord,  included 
rates  and  taxes.  But  the  inflexible  Chairman  did 
not  care  about  that. 

I  feared  for  Gotty.  After  some  unlicensed-gun 
cases  had  been  heard,  he  was  called. 

The  resolute,  upright  old  fisherman  strode  un- 
abashed to  the  little  railed  platform  appointed  for 
prisoners.  A  dapper  lawyer  rose  to  open  the  case 
for  the  prosecution ;  but  Gotty  got  in  the  first 
word. 

"  Witnesses  ter  go  out  o*  Court,  please,"  he 
remarked,  in  a  tone  of  command  rather  than 
suggestion. 

The  Chairman  regarded  him  with  stern,  ques- 
tioning eyes,  then  gave  the  order. 

Now  the  lawyer  told  his  story.  The  defendant 
came  upon  a  group  of  men  in  the  street  and  dis- 
turbed their  Saturday  night  serenity  by  exclaiming, 
"  Odd  job  lot ! "  which,  having  often  heard  him 
make  the  remark,  I  could  readily  believe.  Then 
— the  Court  was  given  to  understand — somebody 
passed  this  criticism  on  somebody  else :  "  That 
man  dunno  'ow  to  sail  a  boat,"  whereat  a  third 
party  remarked,  "'E's  better  at  that  biz'nis  than 
you  ever  was  or  ever  will  be."  Discussion  on 
these  lines  waxed  warm,  one  word  leading  to 
another  ;  and  in  the  confusion  of  voices,  the 


74      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

trumpet  tones  of  the  defendant  rose  highest, 
making  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  listening  ears 
of  the  prosecutor,  approaching  demurely  along 
the  road. 

[Gotty  followed  this  statement  with  rapt  interest 
and  gaze,  and  the  smile  that  illuminated  his  mas- 
sive features  suggested  a  general  corroboration.] 

The  prosecutor  (the  lawyer  continued,  in  effect) 
went  up  to  the  defendant,  and  asked,  with  genuine 
concern  and  scrupulous  politeness,  "  What  is  the 
matter  ? "  at  which  the  defendant,  storming  and 
raving,  smote  the  courteous  inquirer  upon  the 
cheek. 

[The  smile  had  gone.  Gotty's  lower  jaw  had 
dropped.  He  stared  with  a  large  disc  of  eye- 
balls.] 

Peacefully,  modestly,  the  prosecutor  backed, 
closely  followed  by  his  brutal  assailant,  who  rained 
a  succession  of  smacks  alternately  on  the  left  and 
right  sides  of  the  retreating  and  unoffending  face. 

[Gotty  was  breathing  jerkily  from  a  heaving 
bosom.] 

And  when,  thus  contiguous,  the  bullying  lion 
and  law-abiding  lamb  arrived  across  the  road,  the 
oppressor  suddenly  shot  forth  an  unexpected  fist, 
and  his  stunned  victim  lay  in  the  mud. 

[Gotty's  lips  were  moving,  but  his  dry  throat 
yielded  nothing  audible.] 

Yet  so  far  the  picture  was  only  an  imperfect 
outline.  Filling  his  brush  with  purple,  the  legal 
artist  continued,  in  effect : 

Towering  beside  his  bleeding  and  unconscious 


AT   PETTY   SESSIONS  75 

handiwork,  the  tyrant  waved  his  cap  on  high, 
daring  any  man,  on  pain  of  similar  chastisement, 
to  offer  ministrations  to  the  fallen  ;  and  among 
all  those  sturdy  fisher-folk  standing  by  (so  the 
story  ran)  none  dared  intervene.  For  this  man, 
might  it  please  their  worships,  was  "  the  terror  of 
the  district,"  and  all  his  neighbours  went  in  fear  of 
him.  Thus,  for  fully  ten  minutes — 

"  Was  you  there  ?  " 

[Gotty  had  achieved  speech,  but  only  in  the 
thin,  pale  voice  of  astonishment  ;  and  none 
deigned  notice  the  departure  from  approved  pro- 
cedure.] 

For  fully  ten  minutes  the  insensible  man  lay 
untended,  and — 

"WAS  YOU  THERE?" 

[The  paralysis  of  Gotty's  vocal  nerves  had 
passed  away,  and  this  time  the  words  rang  bold  and 
insistent  ;  so  that  he  was  immediately  confronted 
by  suddenly  turned  faces  of  scandalised  protest. 
Gotty  was  sternly  bidden  hold  his  peace ;  and 
after  one  tense  moment  of  bewildered  wrath,  a 
great  calm  came  over  his  soul.  If  so  unthinkable 
an  injustice  were  to  be  permitted  as  evidence, 
grossly  inaccurate  and  one-sided,  from  a  man  who 
didn't  see  the  affair,  then  (Gotty  reasoned  within 
himself,  if  I  knew  the  language  of  those  mobile, 
bushy  eyebrows)  of  what  avail  to  concern  himself 
further  as  to  the  course  these  proceedings  might 
take  ?  Thenceforward,  standing  reposefully  erect, 
he  smiled  the  comfortable  smile  of  conscious 
ethical  superiority.] 


76       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

The  prosecutor  generally  confirmed,  in  the  box, 
the  opening  statement  of  his  legal  champion.  On 
the  Chairman's  invitation,  Gotty  condescended  to 
put  a  few  questions  to  the  witness.  There  ensued 
this  spirited  piece  of  cross-examination  : 

"  Was  you  drunk  ?  " 

«  No." 

"  Yes,  you  was." 

«  No,  I  wasn't." 

"  Yes,  you  was." 

The  Chairman  (severely,  to  prisoner)  :  "  You 
mustn't  contradict." 

Gotty  (severely,  to  the  Chairman) :  "  I  ain't  con- 
tradictin'." 

Later  he  tried  his  art  on  one  of  the  several 
witnesses  for  the  prosecution. 

"  Didn't  'e  frame  up  before  I  'it  'im  ?  " 

«  No." 

"Yes,  'e  did." 

"  No,  'e  didn't." 

«  Yes,  'e  did." 

The  Chairman  (to  Gotty) :  "  Any  other  ques- 
tions ?  " 

Gotty  (a  little  off-hand)  :  "  What's  the  good  ?  " 

When  the  case  for  the  prosecution  had  closed, 
the  Chairman  had  some  difficulty  in  making  Gotty 
understand  that  some  sort  of  rhetorical  effort  was 
now  expected  from  him. 

Two  minutes  later  he  was  explaining  to  an 
astonished  Court,  with  much  wealth  of  detail,  how 
the  little  pink  shrimps  had  to  be  sorted  from  the 
brown  ones.  Warming  to  this  theme,  his  previous 


AT   PETTY  SESSIONS  77 

displeasure  with  the  Bench  was  manifestly  giving 
place  to  a  more  generous  and  friendly  attitude 
of  mind. 

But  the  Chairman  instructed  him  to  confine  his 
observations  to  the  point  at  issue. 

"  Well,  'e  begun  it  fust,"  said  Gotty,  reverting 
with  reluctance  to  the  unfortunate  affair,  "  and  if 
'e  'adn't  arsked  me  what  business  I  was  doing 
there,  'im  shoving  'is  face  in  when  'e  wasn't 
wanted,  I  shouldn't  'ave  pushed  'im.  Then  'e 
framed  up,  and  I  'it  'im." 

"  You  admit  striking  him,  then  ? "  asked  the 
lawyer  triumphantly. 

"  Er  course  I  do,"  replied  the  astonished  de- 
fendant. "  I  'it  'im  a  straight  'un,  and  down  'e 
went  like  a  bullock." 

After  the  fine  (forty  shillings)  had  been  paid, 
and  Gotty  and  I  were  strolling  to  the  station,  he 
made  a  confession. 

"  I  was  sorry  arterwards  when  I'd  'it  'im.  It 
was  a  awful  hard  'un — like  a  kick  from  a  'orse. 
It's  a  lesson  not  to  act  'asty." 


VII 

BUYING   THE   BAWLEY 

Two  days  afterwards  Gotty  came  to  me  in  a  state 
of  mind  bordering  on  delirium.  It  was  a  task  of 
some  difficulty  to  ascertain  on  what  subject  he 
poured  forth  such  copious  particulars. 

This  was  the  startling  knowledge  that  came  to 
me  :  the  owner  of  the  Jane  had  offered  to  sell 
that  vessel  for  £50,  and,  on  my  behalf,  Gotty  had 
secured  the  option  of  purchase  by  paying  a  deposit 
of  two-and-sixpence. 

"  'E  come  ter  me  this  mornin',  and  when  'e 
said  'e'd  sell  'er  fer  fifty  pound  I  nips  off  'ome  and 
fetched  one  of  them  three  'alf  crowns  what  you 
give  me,  the  missis  'aving  laid  'em  by  in  a  tea 
cup  in  the  chest  o'  drawers.  She's  old,  we  know, 
and  bin  doubled,  and  wants  noo  sails  and  gear, 
only  that  won't  run  you  into  more'n  eighty  pound 
altergether — inside  eighty,  I  shouldn't  wonder." 

Thus  by  easy  gradations  did  Fate  and  Gotty 
raise  me  to  the  dignity  of  a  smack  owner.  For 
my  inspection,  on  the  following  day,  of  the  Jane 
left  me  willing  to  accept  the  view  that,  her  time- 
worn  internal  appearance  notwithstanding,  she  was 
a  stout  seaworthy  craft. 

78 


THE   OWNER  OF   THE  /A.VE   HAD  OFFERED  TO   SELL  THAT   VESSEL 
FOR   £50. 


BUYING   THE   BAWLEY  79 

Next  Saturday  evening  I  found  myself,  accom- 
panied by  Gotty,  in  a  little  Leigh  parlour,  and 
about  to  be  initiated  into  such  mysteries  as  might 
attend  the  acquisition  of  a  bawley.  On  a  sofa  sat 
the  old  fisherman  who  had  come  at  last  to  the 
melancholy  moment  of  selling  his  boat.  He  told 
us  about  his  rheumatism,  and  on  cognate  themes 
conversation  continued  for  three-quarters  of  an 
hour. 

Then  at  last,  neither  of  my  companions  offering 
to  take  the  initiative,  I  remarked  ; 

"  Now,  with  regard  to  buying  the  bawley,  how 
do  we  proceed  ?  " 

"  You  'ave  ter  brass  up,"  Gotty  explained,  "  'e 
picks  up  the  money,  and  then  it's  all  over  "  ;  and 
the  old  fisherman  on  the  sofa  nodded  a  sad  but 
confirmatory  head,  in  testimony  that  the  ritual 
had  been  correctly  stated. 

I  am  a  lover  of  simplicity  myself  ;  but  I  could 
not  forbear  to  introduce  into  the  proceedings  one 
touch  of  a  more  prim  formality  than,  if  I  could 
accept  the  foregoing  testimony  as  conclusive,  had 
the  sanction  of  usage.  Next  minute,  indeed,  that 
little  household  was  riven  with  lively  bustle,  con- 
sequent upon  my  impressive  request  for  pen,  ink, 
and  paper.  For  I  was  resolved  to  have  a  receipt, 
even  though  one  had  never  before  been  given,  in 
all  the  years  gone  by,  for  the  purchase-money  of 
a  bawley.  Nay,  I  even  went  the  length  of  having 
a  stamp  affixed,  the  two  fishermen  scarce  ventur- 
ing to  breathe  as  they  watched  these  lawyer-like 
proceedings. 


8o      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

Nor  had  my  gluttony  for  ceremonial  even  yet 
wholly  abated. 

"  Oughtn't  the  ship's  papers  to  be  handed 
over  ?  "  I  asked  the  vendor. 

"  You'll  find  'em  in  a  mustard  tin,"  he  replied, 
"  in  one  'o  the  lockers." 

"  I  see  'em  there  myself,"  came  prompt  and 
generous  confirmation  from  my  prospective  skipper, 
whose  scrutiny  of  the  vessel  had  manifestly  been 
more  intimate  than  my  own. 

When  it  came  to  paying  over  the  money,  obser- 
vant Gotty  thought  he  had  detected  me  in  a 
particularly  discreditable  manoeuvre. 

"  This  ain't  right  1 "  he  protested,  eyeing  me 
aghast.  "  This  ain't  forty-nine  pound  seventeen 
shillin's  and  sixpence  1"  (for,  scholar  or  no  scholar, 
he  is  a  master  of  currency  intricacies).  "  This  is 
only  " — and  with  a  scandalised  and  tarry  finger  he 
rapidly  counted  the  coins  over — "  fourteen  pound 
seven  and  six  !  " 

But,  fortunately  for  my  credit,  our  companion 
was  alive  to  the  significance  of  the  accompanying 
cheque. 

When  presently  we  took  our  departure  from 
that  fisherman's  cottage,  Gotty  had  the  comfort- 
able air  of  a  mariner  who  has  successfully  traversed 
a  difficult  piece  of  water.  But  he  promptly  came 
full-tilt  against  a  rock. 

He  had  referred  to  my  vessel  as  the  Jane.  I 
corrected  him — the  Betty,  please. 

"  But  that  ain't  'er  name ! "  he  objected,  his  brow 
all  furrows  and  bewilderment. 


BUYING   THE   BAWLEY  81 

"  Yes,  it  is,"  I  contradicted. 

For,  if  with  lamb-like  docility  I  had  consented 
to  own  a  bawley,  I  was  inflexibly  set  against 
owning  a  bawley  called  the  Jane ;  and  lest  this 
determination  seem  invidious,  let  me  at  once  state 
that  I  should  equally  draw  the  line  at  owning  a 
bawley  called  the  Mary  Ann.  Besides,  I  had  my 
personal  preference  in  the  matter  of  a  name. 

"  But  it's  painted  on  the  starn  ! "  Gotty  cried  in 
despair. 

"  Then  I'll  paint  it  out." 

"  But  it's  on  the  papers  !  You  can't  alter  the 
papers  !  " 

"  Oh  yes,  I  can  " — at  which  reckless  and  wicked 
assertion  he  was  panic-stricken.  His  case  could 
not  have  been  worse  had  I  threatened  to  commit 
manslaughter. 

"  You  can't.  You  mustn't,  I  tell  yer  !  You'd 
git  sent  ter  prison  ! " 

"  I  mean — I'll  get  some  one  else  to  alter 
them." 

"  That  wouldn't  make  no  dif'rence  !  You'd  cop 
it  jest  the  same — if  it  come  out  you'd  put  the 
other  bloke  up  ter  do  it ! " 

It  will  be  noted  that,  in  the  extremity  of  his 
perturbation  to  find  his  new  owner  calmly  propos- 
ing such  desperate  illegalities,  Gotty  was  drawing 
somewhat  freely  upon  a  vocabulary  acquired  in 
dealings  with  various  grades  of  society. 

"  Where  do  smack  owners  get  their  papers 
from  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  The  coastguards  ! " 

F 


82       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

To  the  coastguards'  quarters  I  accordingly  bade 
him  conduct  me  ;  and  five  minutes  later  we 
entered  an  office  ominously  hung  with  guns, 
bayonets,  pistols,  and  other  facilities  for  sudden 
human  slaughter. 

I  communicated  my  sovereign  will  to  surely  the 
gentlest  mannered  little  man  who  ever  wore  brass 
buttons.  Perched  on  a  stool  before  his  desk,  he 
beamed  lovingly  upon  us  through  gold-rimmed 
spectacles,  as  though  our  visit  were  the  crowning 
pleasure  of  his  blameless  life. 

But  when  he  had  grasped  the  formidable  fact 
that  I  desired  to  change  my  bawley's  name,  he 
shook  his  little  head  in  considerable  distress,  and 
attempted  soft  dissuasions.  On  the  point,  how- 
ever, I  was  as  flint.  The  breach  of  continuity  in 
official  records,  the  seaman's  superstition  of  ill-luck, 
the  embarrassment  to  his  Majesty's  Customs — I 
swept  aside  all  the  arguments,  and  gave  my  ulti- 
matum :  It  must  be. 

In  a  flutter  of  courteous  perplexity,  he  under- 
took to  communicate  with  London,  and  ascertain 
whether  any,  and  if  so  which,  department  of  the 
Imperial  Government  held  authority  under  the 
king  and  constitution  to  officially  sanction  such  a 
purpose  as  the  one  by  which  I  was  possessed. 

As  we  were  about  to  take  our  departure,  the 
dapper  little  officer  anxiously  entreated  us  to 
resume  our  seats.  It  seemed  that  the  bawley's 
change  of  ownership  had  cast  certain  urgent  re- 
sponsibilities upon  him.  A  full  and  careful  record 
of  all  the  salient  facts  had  to  be  made  in  a  large, 


BUYING  THE   BAWLEY  83 

morocco-bound  volume.  Indeed  it  was  lucky,  not 
to  say  providential,  we  had  called. 

Concerning  such  matters  as  my  name,  age, 
address,  and  nationality  I  had  no  difficulty  in  pro- 
viding food  for  his  scrupulous  penmanship  ;  but 
both  Gotty  and  I  were  at  a  loss  when  he  requested 
to  be  told  our  tonnage,  the  width  of  our  beam, 
and  how  much  we  measured  fore  and  aft. 

Mildly  scandalised  to  find  an  owner  and  skipper 
with  blank  minds  on  these  important  points,  he 
nevertheless  kindly  undertook  to  send  his  agents 
next  day  on  board  our  craft  to  make  the  measure- 
ments that  would  enable  him  to  fill  the  grievous 
gaps  which,  for  the  time  being,  must  exist  in  State 
archives. 

Ten  days  afterwards  I  received  a  communication 
setting  forth  the  style  of  a  high  dignitary  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  and  informing  me  that  I  must 
write  to  him  forthwith,  formally  asking  permission 
to  re-christen  my  vessel,  and  fully  stating  the 
reasons  which  induced  me  to  prefer  that  request. 

I  did  so  ;  I  made  a  clean  bosom  of  it,  occupy- 
ing three  candid  and  closely  written  pages  in  an 
attempt  to  make  the  Board  of  Trade  understand 
my  prejudice  against  the  name  Jane,  and  glancing 
on  a  fourth  page  at  the  grounds  of  my  preference 
for  the  name  Betty. 

Three  weeks  later  —  and  in  the  interval  the 
Cabinet  had  met,  though  this  may  have  been  a 
mere  coincidence  —  the  Board  of  Trade  wrote 
granting  my  prayer;  and  simultaneously  I  received 
new  ship's  papers  on  immaculate  parchment. 


84       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

If  that  important  Government  Department  had 
deliberated  long  before  acquiescing  in  the  startling 
change  I  had  desired  them  to  sanction,  they  had 
seen  fit,  on  finally  taking  the  plunge,  to  indulge  in 
a  positive  debauch  of  innovation.  Not  merely  had 
ihejane  become  the  Betty,  but  her  former  lettering 
of  MN.  (indicating  Maldon  as(our  port  of  hail)  had 
given  place  to  LO.  (thenceforth  to  distinguish  us 
upon  the  high  seas  as  a  London  boat).  Nor,  I 
blush  to  say,  had  the  Board  of  Trade  stopped 
there. 

I  had  been  careful  to  explain  that  Gotty  was 
the  skipper,  and  I  merely  the  owner  ;  but  his 
Majesty's  Government  had  insisted  upon  thrusting 
the  double  dignity  upon  me.  There  for  the  world 
to  see  was  the  unimpeachable  testimony  of  parch- 
ment that  I  was  both  the  proprietor  and  the 
commander  of  the  bawley  Betty,  alias  the  LO.  96. 

Meanwhile,  if  he  had  taken  no  part  in  these 
august  matters,  Gotty  had  not  been  idle.  He  had 
been  working  the  boat.  He  had  also,  in  a  dis- 
appointing spell  of  enforced  idleness,  been  tarring 
and  re-fitting  her.  In  truth,  enthusiastically  as  he 
was  embarking  on  the  career  of  a  catcher  of 
shrimps,  Fate  was  not  niggard  in  the  hindrances 
she  placed  in  his  path. 

His  earliest  trouble,  and  one  destined  to  periodi- 
cal recurrence,  was  that,  for  some  reason  that  was 
a  mystery  to  me  (and  scarcely  less  to  him,  if  I 
might  judge  by  the  changeful  variety  of  his  explan- 
ations) he  could  not  retain  a  mate.  .  Two  in  suc- 
cession entered  our  service  (a  retired  greengrocer 


BUYING   THE   BAWLEY  85 

and  a  youth  fresh  from  school)  only  to  abruptly 
leave  it  after  putting  in,  between  them,  no  more 
than  three  nights'  work. 

On  finding  himself  the  second  time  without  a 
coadjutor,  Gotty  came  to  me  with  knit  brows  and 
a  policy  to  unfold. 

"  You  can't  wonder  at  'em  not  stoppin',"  he 
said.  "  There's  a  'ole  in  the  cabin  floor  fit  ter 
break  yer  neck  if  anybody  wasn't  lookin',  the 
torpsel's  all  ter  pieces,  the  jib  ain't  much  better, 
the  net's  so  rotten  it  loses  more  than  it  catches, 
and  the  cabin's  that  dirty — well !  I  can't  fancy  my 
food  there,  and  I  ain't  one  ter  be  too  pertikler. 
Now  what  d'yer  say  ter  let  me  order  a  noo  net, 
and  jib,  and  torpsel,  and  one  or  two  other  things, 
what  we  must  'ave,  and  while  we're  waitin'  fer  'em 
I'll  bring  'er  up  on  the  swatch  and  give  'er  a  coat 
o'  tar  and  scrape  out  the  cabin,  and  get  the  floor 
board  mended.  Then  she'll  look  a  little  more 
what  she  ought  to,  and  we'll  get  a  mate  fast 
enough." 

I  cordially  assented,  and  the  very  next  night  he 
came  to  me  with  these  triumphant  tidings  : 

"  What  d'yer  think  ?  I  'adn't  'ardly  began  to 
over'aul  'er  this  mornin'  when  ole  Jerry  come  and 
arsked  ter  to  be  took  on  as  mate.  'E's  older  than 
what  I  thought  of  takin'  anybody,  but  'e's  as  active 
as  a  boy  and  there  ain't  many  as  knows  the  water 
better'n  what  ole  Jerry  does.  You  very  likely 
might  'ave  seen  'im  about— a  old  feller  with  red 
trousers." 

But    on    the    following    Saturday    evening,    on 


86       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

calling  at  the  cottage  to  learn  how  affairs  were 
progressing  I  found  that  my  congratulations  had 
been  premature.  Old  Jerry's  connection  with  the 
Betty  was  already  severed. 

"  You  never  see  sech  a  techy  ole  feller  ! "  Gotty 
explained.  '<  'E  was  only  along  of  me  two  days, 
and  so  techy  it  made  me  reg'lar  mis'rable  ter  be  in 
'is  company.  I  was  scrapin'  out  the  cabin  most 
of  the  time,  laying  on  my  back  and  usin'  both 
'ands — and  when  I  got  'ome  the  missis  didn't 
'ardly  know  me,  I  was  that  smothered.  Never 
offered  ter  do  a  stroke  'isself,  'e  didn't,  but  jest  sat 
on  the  cabin  top,  grumble,  grumble,  grumble, 
all  day  long — and  old  enough  ter  know  better, 
seem'  'e'll  be  seventy-three  next  birthday.  Yer 
see,  when  I  thought  of  taking  'im  fer  mate,  I'd 
fergot  about  his  temper,  never  'aving  'ad  so  much 
of  it  at  one  time.  It  give  me  the  fair  sick,  and 
I  wasn't  sorry  on  the  third  day  when  he  come 
and  said  'is  wife's  nevvy  'ad  bought  a  borley,  and 
arsked  'im  ter  take  charge.  If  I  can't  sail  com- 
fertable,  I'd  sooner  stay  on  shore  ;  that's  my 
nature — so  I  told  'im  'adn't  'e  better  go  along  of 
'is  wife's  nevvy,  seein'  as  that  young  chap  might  be 
more  fond  of  fault-findin'  than  what  I  was.  So  'e 
took  'isself  off." 

When,  in  the  middle  of  the  week,  I  saw  Gotty 
again,  he  had  already  lost  a  fourth  mate  and  en- 
gaged a  fifth. 

"  After  ole  Jerry's  temper,"  my  skipper  told  me, 
"  I  didn't  fancy  'aving  no  more  like  'im,  so  when 
a  young  feller  come  and  arsked  ter  go — 'im  as  is  a 


BUYING   THE   BAWLEY  87 

son  of  the  chimney-sweep — I  thought,  the  boat 
ready  and  all,  I  might  do  wuss.  It  wasn't  the 
work  'e'd  bin  used  to,  you  understand,  but  'e  says 
'ow  wonderful  fond  'e  was  of  the  water,  and 


Jest  sat  on  the  cabin  top,  grumfrle,  grumble,  Crumble,  all  day  long. 

always  'ad  bin,  and  my  thought  was  I  could  easy 
larn  'im.  'Im  and  me  went  out  tergether  one  day, 
when  I'd  finished  paintin'  the  cabin,  and  I  never 
want  no  more.  Once  was  quite  enough  fer  me. 
Talk  about  sea-sick  !  I  never  did  see  any  one  took 
so  bad.  I  didn't  think  there'd  be  much  of  'im  left 


88       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

to  bring  back  to  his  mother — and  that's  tellin'  you 
the  truth.  Settin'  the  sails,  mindin'  the  helem, 
haulin'  up  the  trawl — I  'ad  to  do  everythin'.  And 
him  down  in  the  cabin,  too  !  That's  where  I 
think  'e  did  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  hisself — me 
having  taken  all  that  trouble  scrapin'  and  scrubbin' 
and  paintin',  so  that  you  could  'ave  eat  your 
dinner  off  the  floor.  Now  and  again,  when  I  got 
a  spare  minute,  I'd  shove  my  'ead  down  the  cabin, 
and  '  Mate/  I  says,  '  if  you  must  be  ill,'  I  says,  '  do 
come  out  of  the  cabin,'  I  says.  f  Come  on  deck 
ter  be  ill ! '  I  hollers  ;  but  he  never  took  no 
notice,  so  when  I  could  fix  the  helem  fer  a  spell, 
with  no  craft  over  the  bows,  I  took  and  'itched  a 
twist  of  rope  round  'im  and  'auled  'im  up.  There 
he  lay  groanin'  awful,  and  I  thought  to  myself  if 
he  was  so  fond  of  the  water  he'd  got  a  wonderful 
funny  way  of  showin'  it.  At  one  time  he  carried 
on  so  painful  I  thought  we  might  be  goin'  ter  lose 
'im — that's  a  fact  I  did.  But  more  than  bein' 
sea-sick  awful  there  wasn't  nothin'  amiss  with  'im  ; 
and  next  mornin',  when  'e  come  round  to  see  me, 
'e  was  'isself  agin.  But  'e  said  'e'd  'card  of  a  job 
on  shore  what  'e  thought'd  suit  'im  better  than 
comin'  along  o'  me,  and  I  says  to  'im,  '  Very  likely,' 
I  says,  'p'raps  it  might.'" 

The  collapse  of  the  sweep's  son  was,  however, 
of  the  less  moment  as  resourceful  Gotty  had  al- 
ready appointed  a  stonemason  to  the  vacant  office. 
We  seemed,  indeed,  as  I  noted  with  some  awe, 
steadily  pushing  our  way  through  the  trades. 

When  I  ventured  a  dubious  word  in  regard  to 


BUYING   THE  BAWLEY  89 

qualification,  my  skipper  was  able,  out  of  his  two 
days'  actual  experience  of  the  new  mate,  to  silence 
all  misgiving. 

"  What  'e  don't  know  about  the  sea  I'm  larnin' 
'im — and  'e  was  two  year  on  'is  uncle's  barge 
don't  fergit.  But  talk  about  strength  !  It's  a  treat 
ter  see  'im  lift  the  trawl  beam,  which  'e  don't  think 
nothin'  of  after  them  big  lumps  of  stone  'e's  bin 
used  ter  carry  on  'is  'ead  up  ladders.  No  more  I 
never  saw  anybody  what's  better  comperny  ter 
sail  with.  When  'e  ain't  singin',  'e's  laughin'.  I 
tell  yer !  we've  found  a  good  'un  this  time." 

Nor,  as  I  rejoiced  to  learn  on  visiting  Leigh  a 
week  later,  were  these  favourable  impressions 
modified  on  a  riper  acquaintance. 

As  to  the  new  mate's  muscular  excellence, 
Gotty's  encomiums  were  even  more  rapturous 
than  before. 

"  You  could  easy  crack  a  flea  on  the  calf  of  'is 
leg,"  he  assured  me  ;  though,  on  presently  being 
introduced  to  the  jovial  stonemason,  I  abstained 
from  any  attempt  to  verify  the  statement. 

His  delight  in  his  new  work  was  soothing  to  an 
owner's  heart. 

"  It's  jist  what  I  like,"  he  told  me,  with  enr 
thusiasm.  "Why,  it's  more  like  a  holiday  than 
work.  I  don't  care  if  the  money  is  bad  for  the 
present."  (And  "bad,"  let  me  say,  seemed  a  mild 
description  of  the  slender  revenues  in  which, 
consequent  upon  the  daily  voyages  of  the  Betty, 
we  were  participating.) 

"  And   you    should    jest  see   'im   eat ! "    Gotty 


90       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

remarked  to  me  in  private.  "  Great  chunks  of  meat 
'is  landlady  gives  'im  ;  fer  'e's  a  single  man  ;  and 
often  as  not  there's  a  tidy  pickin'  fer  me  when  'e's 
'ad  all  'e  can  carry  ;  and  don't  you  see,  I'm  careful 
ter  give  'im  a  quart  of  shrimps,  or  'alf-a-dozen 
plaice,  or  it  might  be  a  couple  of  roker,  to  take 
back  to  'is  landlady.  No  doubt  she's  glad  ter  get 
a  nice  bit  of  fresh  fish  like  that,  and  so  she  don't 
mind  puttin'  up  a  slice  or  two  more  meat  than 
what's  'e's  likely  ter  want  'isself.  Why  !  One  day 
'e  come  aboard  with  pretty  near  'alf  a  leg  of 
mutton,  besides  a  lot  of  them  teeny  carrots  ;  and 
wonderful  tender  they  was." 

Alas  !  If  only  I  could  close  my  narrative  there, 
with  matters  in  that  idyllic  harmony  ! 

A  fortnight  afterwards  the  first  jarring  note  was 
sounded  in  my  ear. 

"  'E  will  not  keep  ter  time  ! "  Gotty  protested 
earnestly,  almost  passionately.  "  Twice  this  week 
we  was  larst  boat  out,  all  along  of  'im  oversleepin' 
'isself." 

A  week  later  it  was  all  over.  The  skipper  came 
round  to  my  house  with  bent  brows  and  told  me 
the  moving  story. 

"  It  come  ter  be  more  than  I  could  stand. 
Late,  late,  late — ev'ry  mornin'  the  same.  I  kep' 
on  speakin'  to  'im,  but  it  wasn't  no  good.  Why  ! 
'E  never  went  ter  bed  not  afore  it  was  nearly  time 
ter  git  up — everlastin'  sittin'  up  with  'is  friends, 
singin'  and  playin'  the  banjo.  What's  the  result  ? 
Some  mornin's  so  sleepy  'e  could  'ardly  keep  'is 
eyes  open.  And  fancy  anybody  bein'  able  ter  go 


BUYING  THE   BAWLEY  91 

to  sleep  when  there  might  be  a  bit  of  money  to 
'arn  !  It  was  Thursday  mornin',  and  jest  gettin' 
light,  when  I  see  a  coal  ship  agin  the  lower  sand  ; 
so  I  gives  'im  the  tiller,  and  tells  'im  ter  stand  by, 
and  away  I  rows  ter  see  if  we  mightn't  'ave  the 
job  ter  git  'er  anchor  out.  But  it  didn't  turn  out 
no  good,  fer  the  captain  wouldn't  'ear  of  no  one 
'elpin'  'im.  I  stopped  alongside  talkin'  more  than 
I  might  do,  fer  our  borley  'adn't  turned,  and  my 
thought  was  'e  would  take  'er  through  the  Deep 
Cut  and  bear  round  nor'-west.  '  What ! '  says  the 
captin  after  a  bit,  '  ain't  your  boat  comin'  back  for 
yer  ? '  Then  I  seed  she'd  gorn  by  the  Cut  and 
still  not  put  about.  '  Why,'  I  says, '  my  mate  must 
'ave  gorn  ter  sleep  ; '  and  off  I  starts  ter  row  after 
'im,  the  captin  laughin'  fit  to  bust  'isself.  If  it 
took  me  a  minit  it  must  'ave  took  me  a  hower  and 
a  'alf  ter  catch  'er  up,  the  sweat  all  pourin'  down 
me  and  my  pore  arms  ready  ter  break.  There  'e 
was,  sound  and  snorin',  with  the  tiller  under  'is 
arm  and  'is  'ead  restin'  on  it." 

"  That  was  very  annoying,"  the  scandalised 
owner  commented,  "  and  very  dangerous." 

"'Wake  up  !'  I  'oilers,  when  I  come  alongside, 
and  as  'e  didn't  pay  no  attention,  I  took  and 
prodded  'im  with  a  oar.  '  Oh,'  'e  says,  wakin'  up 
sudden,  '  I  berlieve  I've  'ad  forty  winks.'  '  Yes,' 
I  says,  '  I  berlieve  you  'ave,'  and  I  thinks  to 
myself  '  It  won't  be  my  fault,  my  fine  feller, 
if  you  don't  sleep  in  yer  own  bed  next  time  ! ' 
For  it's  a  funny  thing,  but  Ned  Pierpoint  come 
to  me  that  very  afternoon  and  arsked  me  not  ter 


92 

ferget  'im  if  I  wanted  a  mate,  seein'  'e  was  out  of 
work." 

"What  trade  ?  "  I  mechanically  asked. 

"  Ned  works  as  a  carpenter,  but  what  'e's  mostly 
took  up  with  is  playin'  the  flute  in  the  Salvation 
Army.  So  I  goes  round  to  'im  and  says,  '  If  you're 
on  the  jetty  at  'alf  past  two  termorrow  mornin', 
you  shall  come  along  o'  me  if  my  mate  don't  turn 
up.'  Neither  did  'e  turn  up,  so  I  takes  Ned.  But 
when  we  come  ashore  this  afternoon,  the  other 
one  was  waitin'  on  the  jetty.  As  black  as  thunder 
'e  looked,  and  'e  didn't  'alf  say  nothin'  either.  At 
one  time  I  thought  'e  was  goin'  ter  frame  up,  and 
if  us  two  'ad  started,  it  would  'ave  bin  all  right ! 
Only  we've  'ad  a  glass  tergether  this  evening,  and 
'e's  come  round  ter  see  'e  couldn't  expect  any  one 
to  be'ave  dif'rent  to  what  I  did." 

A  week  later  I  was,  as  will  be  readily  under- 
stood, all  agog  to  hear  how  the  carpenter-flautist 
was  shaping. 

"'E's  all  right,"  was  my  skipper's  hearty  report. 
"  You  couldn't  want  any  one  what's  more  willin', 
and  'e  larns  quick.  'E  'as  a  lot  ter  say  about  the 
Army — and  teetotal,  too.  Never  touches  a  drop  ! 
And  I'm  careful  to  respec'  'is  feelin's.  I  'avn't 
give  'im  one  swear  word  all  the  time." 

"  We  shall  have  you  joining  the  Salvation  Army, 
Getty." 

"  I  might  do  plenty  o'  wuss  things,"  agreed  that 
broad-minded  man. 

Week  succeeded  week,  and  I  had  already  begun 
to  regard  the  mate  problem  as  settled,  when  the 


BUYING  THE   BAWLEY  93 

disappointing  news  was  brought  to  me  that  the 
Salvationist  had  abruptly  left  our  service.  His 
departure  had  some  relation  to  an  apple  pudding, 
though,  being  fully  occupied  with  other  matters  at 
the  time,  I  did  not  succeed  in  satisfactorily  probing 
the  mystery.  It  seemed  that  an  over-liberal  helping 
to  the  pudding  had  (to  adopt  the  explanation  of 
the  flautist's  wife,  who,  as  the  cook,  might  be 
presumed  to  know)  incapacitated  him  for  work  on 
the  two  following  days,  besides  (to  incline  to  Gotty's 
version  of  the  affair)  rendering  him  unable  to  send 
"  one  of  'is  nippers  round,  jest  ter  give  me  word  ! " 

But,  if  I  cannot  deal  adequately  with  the  crisis, 
I  can  at  least  state  its  consequence.  The  car- 
penter had  gone,  and  been  succeeded,  as  mate 
of  the  Betty,  by  a  most  promising  contractor's 
carman. 

Matters  were  in  that  phase  when,  feeling  one 
day  somewhat  run  down,  I  resolved  to  try  a  trip 
on  my  boat  as  a  pick-me-up. 


VIII 

SHRIMPING 

THE  blackness  above  was  set  with  diamonds,  but 
the  night  lacked  a  moon.  Westcliff  had  long 
since  gone  to  bed.  Nay,  an  hour  had  passed 
since  midnight  sentinels  plunged  her  avenues 
and  promenade  into  the  abrupt  loss  of  electric 
light. 

For  a  mile  I  was  alone  with  the  sea  and  the  sky 
and  the  silence.  But  at  cliff  undulations  where 
Westcliff  melted  into  Leigh,  and  Nature  was  the 
only  gardener,  nightingales  poured  their  various 
cadences  into  the  quietude.  And,  pausing  amid 
the  sweet  and  solemn  music  of  those  birds,  I 
heard  little  unseen  waves  softly  tumbling  on  the 
shore. 

Lights  in  the  old  fishing  village  proved  strangely 
welcome  and  companionable  —  undignified  dis- 
covery !  But  unless  one  be  an  armed  coastguard 
certain  vague  timidities  are  apt  to  associate  them- 
selves with  darkness  and  i  A.M. 

Gotty  had  laid  upon  me  the  imperative  injunc- 
tion to  be  at  the  jetty  soon  after  one,  and  on  no 
account  later  than  half-past.  It  would  be  a 
dreadful  thing,  he  had  pointed  out,  if  I  made  him 

94 


I 

* 


96      GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

lose  the  tide.  Arriving  at  1.25,  I  remained  for 
twenty  minutes  the  only  living  creature  astir 
beside  the  water.  Then  I  was  joined  by  a  white 
cat,  whose  humble  friendliness  suggested  that, 
having  arrived  home  too  late  for  admittance,  he 
had  tasted  loneliness  and  boredom  in  the  deserted 
streets. 

Ten  minutes  later  something  else  happened. 
Hearing  the  creak  of  a  spar,  I  turned  to  behold 
a  cockle-boat,  her  brown  sails  all  set,  pass  like  a 
phantom  beyond  the  jetty,  and  then  creep  away 
nto  invisibility. 

Presently  the  sound  of  leisurely  footsteps, 
mounting  the  bridge  stairs,  came  as  a  reassurance 
that  the  world  contained  other  life  besides  myself, 
that  cat,  and  the  vanished  cockle-boat.  I  be- 
thought me  of  greetings  suitable  to  mark  my  sense 
of  Gotty's  gross  unpunctuality.  But  it  proved  to 
be  the  new  mate. 

I  drew  his  attention  to  the  fact  that,  though  it 
was  past  two,  Gotty  had  not  yet  appeared.  He 
accordingly  went  off  to  hammer  at  the  door  of  his 
superior's  cottage. 

"  If  I'd  thought  you  was  waiting  out  'ere  all  this 
time  in  the  cold,"  Gotty  said  to  me  when,  ten 
minutes  later,  he  arrived  with  a  countenance 
aglow  with  good  temper,  "  I'd  'ave  been  careful 
not  to  oversleep  myself — I  would  indeed." 

The  mate  waded  in  for  the  dinghey,  and  at  2.30 
we  clambered  on  board  the  Betty. 

Gotty  and  the  mate  were  in  one  frame  of  mind 
and  I  was  in  another.  It  was  still  to-night  with 


SHRIMPING  97 

me,  but    already  to-morrow  morning  with  them. 
They  had  been  to  bed.      I  had  not. 

So,  offering  no  assistance  in  the  work  of  hoist- 
ing anchor  and  sails,  I  descended  to  the  cabin,  lit 
the  lamp,  spread  a  spare  jib  in  the  bunk  devoid  of 
paint-pots,  and  straightway  turned  in,  an  overcoat 
and  rug  serving  for  bedclothes. 

I  had  put  out  the  light.  The  gentle  rocking  of 
the  Betty  was  full  of  slumbrous  suggestion.  But, 
for  the  time,  sleep  was  postponed  by  uproar. 
Occurrences  on  deck  were  photographing  them- 
selves in  my  mind,  through  the  medium  of  sound, 
with  a  definition  that  rendered  superfluous  the 
office  of  the  eye. 

The  windlass  was  rotating  in  jerks  at  the  stern 
compulsion  of  a  handspike,  as  the  wet  anchor- 
chain  passed  complaining  round  with  the  barrel, 
each  released  length,  on  coming  to  hand,  being 
dropped  on  deck  with  a  din  of  clanking  iron  such 
as  only  an  old  sea  anchor-chain  can  make.  I 
knew  what  Gotty  and  the  mate  were  doing,  and 
shared  in  their  relief  when,  ultimately,  the  anchor 
itself,  rusty  and  rebellious,  came  blundering  up 
the  side  and  toppled  over  into  the  bows. 

Next  they  obviously  got  to  work  on  the  main- 
sail, the  pair  of  them  hauling  with  entire  weight  of 
body  at  this  rope  and  that,  the  great  sheet  ascend- 
ing in  a  succession  of  grunting  spasms  that  seemed 
to  argue  the  need  for  more  grease  on  the  mast. 
Then,  amid  noise  of  higher  pitch,  the  topsail  went 
to  its  place,  and,  lazily  following  in  their  order, 
the  jib  and  foresail  shrieked  into  position  ;  my 

G 


9  8       GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

wakeful  thoughts  busy  over  the  desirability  of 
oiling  the  blocks. 

All  of  these  happenings,  I  say,  were  vividly 
known  to  me,  lying  below  in  the  wooden  hollow, 
with  every  sound  telephoned  through  the  timbers 
in  a  spirit  of  exaggeration.  As  for  the  footsteps, 
I  could  almost  see  them.  Monstrous  heavily 
shod  were  Gotty  and  the  mate.  Those  sea-boots 
were  assaulting  every  nerve  of  delicate  fibre  in  my 
quivering  cranium. 

But,  at  least,  we  were  now  under  way,  and  a 
copious  draught  of  cool  sea  air,  which  came 
suddenly  to  fan  my  temples,  gave  assurance  that 
a  hand  was  on  the  helm,  and  that,  running  aslant 
the  wind,  we  were  heading  for  the  open  water. 
This  experience  was  the  more  welcome  as  a  fall 
in  temperature  justified  my  heavy  coverings,  and 
caused  me  to  cancel  a  half-formed  intention  to 
arise  and  shed  the  overcoat. 

Now  the  expectations  of  kindlier  sensations 
soothed  my  thoughts,  and  I  pictured  some  hours 
of  silent  sailing  under  the  stars,  with  Gotty  in 
thoughtful  charge  of  the  helm,  the  mate  asquat 
beside  him,  and — that  the  sleeper  below  might  not 
be  disturbed — with  no  word  spoken  between  them 
above  the  inflexion  of  a  whisper. 

I  must,  indeed,  at  this  moment  nearly  have 
dropped  off  to  sleep.  For  these  rose-coloured 
imaginations  were  nothing  but  a  dream.  No 
prevision  could  have  had  less  in  common  with 
what  actually  happened. 

The  trawl !     Of   course.      I    had    forgotten  the 


SHRIMPING  99 

trawl.  Gotty  and  the  mate  were  now  wrestling 
with  the  thing.  1  heard  the  splash  which  be- 
tokened that  one  of  my  shipmates  had  thrown  the 
buoy  overboard — the  conspicuous  piece  of  tarred 
buoyancy  which,  floating  to  leeward,  afforded  an 
alternative  means  of  recovering  the  gear,  should 
the  tow-rope  snap.  The  black  wish  arose  in  my 
heart — so  disturbing  was  the  thunder  of  boot- 
leather  accompanying  this  operation  of  throwing 
over  the  buoy — that  Gotty  and  the  mate,  while 
they  were  about  it,  had  also  thrown  each  other 
overboard. 

Now  they  were  at  grips  with  the  trawl — an 
ancient,  strenuous  struggle  ;  the  meshed  monster 
refusing  to  budge  ;  two  muscular  men  sternly  set 
on  conquering  its  obstinacy.  I  knew  the  process. 

Over  go  great  armfuls  of  net,  masses  at  either 
end  of  the  width  being  simultaneously  bundled 
across  the  bulwarks  ;  and  at  last,  when  the  huge 
bag  of  perforations  is  loosening  itself  as  a  tapering 
tunnel  in  the  water,  the  fishermen  enter  upon  the 
crowning  toil  of  thrusting  overboard  the  mouth  of 
the  monster,  held  open  by  rigid  jaws  of  iron,  a 
long  beam  serving  for  the  upper  lip — the  monster 
which,  that  mankind  may  enjoy  a  nutritious  diet, 
moves  slowly  along  the  sandy  bottom  of  the  sea, 
swallowing  little  fishes  in  its  ruthless  maw. 

A  stampede  of  those  mammoth  boots  visualised 
to  my  troubled  brain  the  anxious  business  of 
making  fast  the  ropes  that  towed  and  controlled 
the  trawl,  now  at  its  fell  work  seven  fathoms 
down. 


ioo    GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

At  last,  surely,  by  all  the  laws  of  justice,  my 
physical  self  would  be  given  opportunity  to  accept 
the  chloroform  of  sleep.  The  plash  of  waters 
against  the  heaving  hull,  the  sluggish  creaking  of 
the  rigging — those  were  sounds  attuned  to  the 
proper  spirit  of  lullaby.  My  senses  were  already 
floating  to  those  realms  of  repose  and  silver  fancies 
whose  airy  inhabitants  are  shod  daintily,  rather 
than  with  sea-boots,  when 

What  was  that  ?  There  was  a  sound  in  the 
cabin,  as  of  something  moving.  Beneath  closed 
eyes  I  now  was  wide  awake,  my  mind  busy  with 
conjectures.  Was  it  a  mouse  ?  Or — more  prob- 
able— a  rat  ?  Neither  theory  was  strengthened  by 
what  next  happened.  I  heard  a  lucifer  match 
furtively  struck.  And  presently  another. 

Obviously  Gotty  or  the  mate — bother  take  them 
both — had  come  down  to  look  for  something. 
Whatever  they  sought,  I  bitterly  reflected,  they 
might,  in  the  name  of  our  common  humanity, 
have  made  shift  to  sail  the  old  bawley  for  a  few 
hours  without  it,  rather  than  come  disturbing  me 
in  this  thoughtless  fashion.  Presently,  on  a  sudden 
illumination  being  manifest  through  my  drawn 
lids,  I  knew  that  the  visitor  had  gone  the  selfish 
length  of  lighting  the  lamp.  Then  he  fell  to 
rummaging  among  paper  and  wood  in  one  of  the 
lockers.  Next — could  I  credit  my  ears  ? — he 
started  tinkering  with  the  stove. 

"  What  on  earth,"  I  exclaimed,  sitting  up  and 
confronting  the  mate  with  wide-open  eyes — "  what 
on  earth  are  you  up  to  ?  "  For,  in  moments  of 


SHRIMPING  1 01 

acute  displeasure,  one  does  not  always  convey 
one's  thought  in  polished  phraseology. 

"  Going  to  give  you  a  fire,"  said  the  mate,  with 
the  gracious  cheerfulness  of  a  man  about  to  do  a 
fellow-creature  some  substantial  kindness. 

"  But,"  I  gasped,  "  I  don't  want  a  fire,"  and, 
indeed,  with  the  flue  running  up  some  six  inches 
from  my  head,  this  negative  attitude,  all  apart  from 
the  matter  of  disturbed  repose,  was  a  common- 
sense  preference. 

But  the  mate  shoved  a  handful  of  paper  behind 
the  bars. 

"  Don't,  on  any  account,  light  the  fire ! "  I 
protested. 

"  He  told  me  to,"  said  the  mate,  carefully 
placing  pieces  of  wood  on  the  paper. 

"  Never  mind  what  Gotty  says,"  I  blustered  ; 
"  you  obey  me." 

"  But,"  said  the  mate,  as  he  put  coal  on  the 
wood,  "  we  always  have  a  fire.  You  see,"  he 
added,  a  hint  of  reproach  in  his  voice,  "  we  some- 
times like  to  have  a  cup  of  tea." 

Then,  with  hasty  apologies,  back  to  my  pillow. 
Of  course,  of  course — my  night  was  their  morn- 
ing. O  woe  was  me  for  lacking  sufficient  fore- 
thought to  have  sought  repose  in  the  hold. 

The  fire  roared  up  the  chimney,  whence 
presently  came  so  fierce  a  heat  that,  to  avoid  risk 
of  a  blistered  forehead,  I  pulled  the  rug  over  my 
face.  There  I  lay,  too  sleepy  to  realise  that  sleep 
was  impossible. 

Cups  and  plates  rattled.     A  knife  sang  its  way 


102     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

through  a  loaf  of  bread.  I  heard  the  hum  of 
boiling  water  ;  I  heard  it  go  splashing  into  the 
teapot. 

Half-way  through  breakfast,  Gotty  said  to  the 
mate : 

"  Well,  'e  did  oughter  be  warm  enough."  And 
the  mate  laughed,  not,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  too 
humanely. 

After  Gotty  had  finished  his  repast  (and  swal- 
lowed, by  my  counting,  his  third  cup  of  tea),  he 
again  varied  the  conversation  by  alluding  to  the 
poor  owner. 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Gotty  thoughtfully,  "  we'd 
better  let  'im  'ave  'is  sleep  out." 

Noises  on  deck  had  kept  me  awake  as,  trying  to 
sleep,  I  lay  indignant  in  that  bunk  ;  and  it  was  a 
noise  on  deck  which,  ultimately,  caused  me  with 
alacrity  to  arise.  Gotty  and  the  mate  were  haul- 
ing in  the  trawl.  I  wanted  to  see. 

My  opened  eyes  discovered  occasion  of  as- 
tonishment. Visible  were  the  paint-pots  in  the 
opposite  bunk — visible  also  the  base  of  the  mast, 
stubborn  pillar  of  wood  running  through  the  floor 
and  penetrating  the  ceiling.  It  was  no  light  of 
a  lamp  that  revealed  the  cabin  interior,  but  an 
illuminant  more  white  and  pure.  Day  had  come  ; 
and,  indeed,  the  ship's  clock  testified  to  half- 
past  five. 

I  thrust  my  head  and  shoulders  out  into  the 
morning — delicious  experience.  Bright  sunshine, 
blue  sea,  little  hurrying  steamers  with  red  funnels, 
toy  barges  with  brown  sails,  tiny  duplicates  of  the 


SHRIMPING  103 

Betty — that  is  what  I  saw,  no  craft  being  near. 
Gently  rocking,  we  were  encircled  by  sparkling 
water.  Kent  and  Essex  were  remote  ribbons  of 
prettiness,  and  Southend  pier  was  made  of  thread. 
The  joyous  sunshine  filled  the  universe.  My 
nostrils  were  tickled  by  sweet,  cool  air — incense 
and  a  tonic.  O  ye  poor  millions  of  city  sluggards, 
with  your  late  nights  at  theatres — far  from  your 
lives  is  that  miracle  of  the  Estuary  in  early  morn- 
ing, when  the  sun  is  shining. 

"  Better  put  on  your  coat,"  Gotty  in  motherly 
manner  interrupted  his  labours  to  advise,  "  else 
you  might  ketch  cold  coming  out  of  that  cabin  " 
— which  was  wisdom. 

Getting  in  the  trawl  is  labour  less  exhausting 
than  shooting  it,  because  of  the  assistance  ren- 
dered by  the  capstan,  which,  in  the  operation 
under  my  scrutiny,  the  mate  turned  with  an  iron 
handle. 

Having  got  the  beam  on  board,  they  hauled 
in  the  masses  of  dripping  net,  until  at  last  they 
reached  the  bulged  extremity,  which,  dumping  it 
on  a  clear  area  of  deck,  Gotty  regarded  with  small 
favour.  This  parcel  from  the  deep,  his  trained 
eye  told  him,  would,  when  translated  into  Billings- 
gate cash,  go  but  a  short  way  towards  buying 
Mrs.  Gotty  a  new  dress.  I  exercised  my  financial 
right  to  shake  a  disconsolate  head  in  unison  with 
his,  though,  of  a  truth,  my  own  unassisted  obser- 
vation had  scarce  enabled  me  to  judge  whether 
we  had  done  well  or  ill. 

Next   minute   he   had   untied  the   cord,   and   a 


io4     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

twitching  mass  of  vvrigglesome  green-grey  life 
had  slid  upon  the  deck. 

We  were  out,  as  I  knew,  after  the  agile  shrimp. 
But  our  success  had  manifestly  lain  rather  in  the 
direction  of  small  crabs,  though,  not  to  appal  the 
mate  by  too  pathetic  a  display  of  proprietorial 
inexperience,  I  abstained  from  drawing  attention 
to  the  fact.  There  they  crawled  in  variety,  of 
several  colours,  some  with  the  long  legs  of  a 
spider,  and  each  apparently  concerned  to  show 
off  his  parts  in  pedestrianism.  They  were  walk- 
ing with  heedless  rapidity  over  infant  soles,  full- 
grown  whitebait,  little  gasping  cod,  and  other 
small  fishes  of  which  the  names  were  not  known 
to  me.  Also  in  our  gleanings  from  below  there 
was  a  half-transparent  shrimpy  element,  which 
lost  definiteness  in  a  seaweed  tangle. 

Two  pairs  of  expert  hands  immediately  engaged 
in  the  business  of  removing  the  undesirables,  and 
a  lively  cascade  of  crabs  and  small  fish,  mingling 
with  tatters  of  marine  vegetation,  played  over  the 
bulwarks.  Thus  soon  were  we  left  with  a  reduced 
heap,  into  the  texture  of  which  quivering  legs  and 
whiskers  largely  entered. 

A  shovelful  of  shrimps  lay  before  me,  and  I 
drew  Gotty's  attention  to  the  fact  that  some  of 
them  had  apparently  been  boiled.  For  a  con- 
spicuous redness  distinguished  these,  whereas  the 
others,  individually  somewhat  larger,  were  wholly 
of  a  translucent  grey. 

"Them  are  the  little  pink  'uns,"  said  Gotty, 
turning  upon  me  his  great  sun-lit  countenance, 


SHRIMPING  105 

"  and  there  ain't  any  that's  sweeter.  I  don't  care 
who  says  dif'rent.  Only  the  brown  'uns  are 
thought  more  of,  seein'  as  they're  bigger.  That's 
why  " — and  his  face  took  deeper  lines — "  the 
Dutch  shrimps  get  run  after  so  much.  Them 
Dutch  shrimps ! " 

The  words  were  spoken  in  scorn  as  he  tried  to 
snap  a  large,  yellow  finger  against  a  tarry  thumb  ; 
and  his  accelerated  breathing  was  audible. 

"They  ain't  fresh,"  he  added,  growing  slander- 
ous, "  nor  yet  got  any  flavour.  As  fer  eatin'  'em  " 
— puckering  his  mouth  into  an  expression  of 
violent  disgust — "  I'd  sooner  starve.  But  that's 
what  we've  got  to  put  up  with.  These  Dutch 
shrimps  come  and  reg'lar  glut  the  market,  same 
as  it  might  be  ter-morrow  mornin'.  Then  ours 
don't  fetch  not  'alf  what  you'd  git  another  time. 
Larst  month  we'd  be  gettin'  two  shillin's  and 
more  a  gallon,  but  with  all  these  Dutch  shrimps 
what's  bin'  comin'  in,  it's  gone  down  to  one  and 
three,  a  shillin',  and" — raising  his  voice  to  an 
outraged  pitch  that  caused  a  passing  sea-gull  to 
mend  its  pace — "  on  some  days  only  ninepence  ! " 

As  though  seeking  recovered  control  of  mind  in 
renewed  employment  of  his  hands,  Gotty  applied 
himself  in  earnest  silence  to  rummaging  anew 
through  the  pile  of  live  shrimps,  abstracting 
further  seaweed. 

"  It's  jest  the  same  with  winkles,"  he  presently 
observed,  when  the  catch  had  been  almost  cleared 
of  vegetable  adulteration.  "  London  flies  to  big 
winkles,  same  as  it  does  to  big  shrimps.  But 


io6     GOTTY    AND   THE   GUVNOR 

those  Scotch  winkles  ain't  got  near  the  flavour 
as  them  what  we  git,  only  ourn  don't  run  ter  the 
same  size — but  wonderful  sweet  they  are,  to  them 
as  knows  a  good  winkle  when  they  get  it. 

"  And  so,"  he  summed  up,  in  a  spirit  of  calm 
despair,  "  when  London  ain't  flying  to  Dutch 
shrimps,  it's  flying  to  Scotch  winkles." 

The  old  fisherman's  under -lip  was  twitching, 
and  I  made  haste  to  engage  his  mind  on  a  less 
painful  theme. 

"  It's  astonishing,"  was  my  sincere  tribute,  "  how 
well  you've  sorted  out  the  catch." 

"  If  I  couldn't  pick  over  a  few  shrimps,"  replied 
Gotty,  with  a  handsome  endeavour  to  minimise 
the  compliment,  "  I'd  no  business  to  be  in  charge 
of  a  borley." 

Then,  with  concentrated  thought,  he  put  the 
shrimps  through  a  further  process,  aiming  at  their 
better  appearance.  Transferring  a  half  of  the 
total  to  a  circular  sieve,  he  held  it  at  arm's-length 
above  the  deck,  what  time  the  mate,  drawing 
water  in  a  bucket  from  over  the  side,  gave  them 
a  succession  of  sluicings.  And  as  each  torrent 
descended,  Gotty  vigorously  shook  the  sieve,  so 
that  sand  and  other  foreign  bodies  might  the 
more  surely  be  removed. 

It  was  a  small  avalanche  of  clean  and  dapper 
crustaceans  that  he  finally  poured  into  a  larger 
sieve  by  his  side,  where  they  were  presently  joined 
by  their  brethren,  also  come  spotless  from  shakings 
in  a  shower-bath. 

The  Betty  had  now  reached  a  situation  promising, 


SHRIMPING  107 

in  Gotty's  mature  judgment,  to  serve  our  interests, 
and  the  trawl  was  once  more  shot.  Then,  at  a 
private  word  from  his  superior,  the  mate  went 
below  to  prepare  my  breakfast. 

Manly  slices  of  bread,  fried  bacon  of  a  peculiarly 
boisterous  aroma,  and  tea  of  an  umber  strength 
that  suggested  its  suitability  for  tanning  the  hide 
of  a  buffalo — that  was  the  repast  awaiting  me 
before  the  roaring  cabin  fire,  and  to  cope  with 
which  the  healthy  sea  air  had  conjured  up  the 
necessary  appetite. 

Our  second  haul  yielded  two  more  gallons  of 
shrimps,  and  several  plaice  of  a  size  that  secured 
their  retention  for  the  home  larder.  After  our 
third  haul,  which  was  rich  in  starfish,  Gotty  pro- 
ceeded to  subject  his  legitimate  captives  to  their 
last  ordeal. 

The  mate  had  already,  on  a  dexterous  shovel, 
transferred  the  cabin  fire  to  a  stove  in  the  hold. 
This  imparted  its  warmth  to  a  venerable  copper 
that  the  skipper  had  half  filled  with  water,  to 
which  he  added  salt  with  a  liberal  hand.  For 
the  Leigh  boats  bring  their  shrimps  ashore 
already  boiled,  and  packed  in  baskets  labelled 
in  readiness  to  be  put  on  the  rail  for  London. 


IX 

CONSULTING   THE    SKIPPER 

AT  our  next  meeting,  Gotty  told  me  a  lugubrious 
story  of  poor  hauls. 

"  It's  no  matter  where  you  go,"  he  testified 
indignantly,  "  down  by  the  Girdler,  off  Sheernest, 
over  to  Quinboro' — it  don't  make  no  difference  ; 
there  ain't  a  shrimp  to  be  caught.  And  them  you 
do  catch,"  he  added  almost  hysterically,  "  don't 
fetch  no  money.  Arsk  any  one — "  he  went  on, 
"  they'll  all  tell  you  the  same.  For,  mind  you,  if 
others  was  getting  their  six  peds — same  as  what 
ought  to  be,  now  the  weather's  warmer — I'd  say 
there  was  something  wrong  with  the  works.  But 
we're  all  served  alike.  It's  something  chronic." 

Pausing  only  to  draw  a  coat  sleeve  across  his 
brow,  to  relieve  it  of  warm  dews  these  thoughts 
had  induced,  Gotty  burst  forth  anew  : 

"  Last  Toosday  things  did  look  like  taking  a 
turn,  when  we  got  twelve  gallons  of  pink  'uns — but 
if  they  'aven't  gone  and  made  it  out  on  the  bill  only 
nine  and  a  'alf  !  So  they  'as  a  pore  man  all  ways." 

"  Gotty,"  I  said,  "  there  is  something  I  want  to 
tell  you." 

The   old   fellow   stood   confronting  me   with    a 

108 


CONSULTING   THE   SKIPPER      109 

respectful,  listening  countenance  not  wholly  free 
from  anxiety. 

"  I  want  to  go  for  a  two  months'  cruise  in  the 
Betty,  if  you  will  take  me." 

"  Bray-vo  ! "  exclaimed  Gotty,  his  eyes  suddenly 
aglow  with  enthusiasm.  "  I'm  ready  when  you 
are.  Anything's  better  than  trying  to  catch 
shrimps  when  there  ain't  any." 

"  What  do  you  say  to  going  down  the  English 
Channel  as  far  as  Cornwall  ?  " 

"  Jest  wherever  you  like,"  he  replied  ;  and  the 
large  and  airy  scope  of  this  comment,  coupled 
with  a  hint  of  deferential  aloofness  in  the  speaker's 
tone,  suggested  a  suspicion  to  my  mind. 

"  Gotty,"  I  asked  point-blank,  "  have  you  ever 
heard  of  the  English  Channel  ?  " 

"  The  English  Channel  ?  Why,  yes " — with 
guilty  hesitation — "  I  fancy  I  'ave.  I've  heard 
talk  on  it.  But  when  might  you  be  thinking  of 
startin'  ?  " 

"  Where  is  the  English  Channel  ?  "  I  demanded 
ruthlessly. 

Gotty  scratched  his  head. 

"T'other  side  of  'Arwich,"  he  ventured.  "Ain't 
it  ?  "  he  hastily  added,  on  noting  my  expression. 

It  is  not  easy  to  convey  geographical  informa- 
tion, of  however  elementary  a  character,  to  one 
who  has  ever  been  a  stranger  to  books  and  maps. 

"  Harwich,"  I  began,  "is  in  the  north " 

"  Nor' -east,"  corrected  Gotty. 

"  Well,  north-east,  then.  Anyway,  the  English 
Channel  is  in  the  south." 


no     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"That's   my   meanin'/'    Gotty   remarked,    "It's 
down  Margit  way,  ain't  it  ?  " 
"  But  you  said  Harwich  ! " 

"  'Arwichor  Margit  my  meanin' was," he  explained 
in  an  aggrieved  tone.     "  It's  down  by  the  Forelan'," 
he  added,  in  a  tone  calmly  explanatory,  as  though 
in  this  geography  lesson  he  were  the  teacher. 
"  You  have  heard  of  the  Foreland,  then  ?  " 
"  And  seen  it  too.      It's  t'other  side  o'  Margit." 
"  How  far  have  you  actually  been,  Gotty  ?  " 
"  'Ow  fur  ?     Why  ain't  I  tellin'  yer  ?     I've  bin 
up    to    'Arwich    and    I've    bin    down    to    Margit. 
That's  'ow  fur.    That's  'ow  fur  one  way,"  he  added 
with  increased  dignity.     "  If  you  talk  o'  west'ard, 
there    ain't    many    as    knows    the    river    better. 
'Undreds  of  times  I've  bin  up  Gravesend  Reach, 
and   a   tidy  few  peds  o'  brown  'uns  you'll  catch 
there — when  they  git  up  so  fur,  my  meanin'  is — 
and  sometimes  I've  took  a  catch  o'  sprats  up  to 
Billingsgate  when  there's  bin  a  fair  wind.     Only 
of    late    years    we've   mostly   took    'em    into   Til- 
bury,  where   they   get    sent    away   by   steamboat 
fer    sardines,    them    forrinners    not    knowin'    the 
dif'rence,  seemin'ly." 

"  The  English  Channel,"  I  continued,  "  goes 
south  from  the  North  Foreland  ;  then — "  and 
I  paused  to  mentally  review  the  points  of  the 
compass — "then  it  bends  round  and  goes  west- 
ward, right  along  the  south  of  England.  And 
Cornwall,"  I  added,  not  without  a  misgiving  that 
this  description  was  vague  and  inadequate,  "  is  the 
end  of  England." 


CONSULTING   THE   SKIPPER      in 

"Well,  well,"  Gotty  commented  loftily,  "we'll 
easy  find  the  Channel  if  there's  any  sort  of  water 
in  it  for  a  craft  our  size." 

"  Gotty  ! "  I  laughed,  "  the  English  Channel  is 
a  broad,  deep  sea — a  lot  deeper  and  broader  than 
the  Estuary." 

"  'Ow  many  fadum  in  the  shoalest  part  ? "  he 
asked  keenly. 

"That  I  can't  say,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  I 
don't  know  what  a  fathom  is." 

"  A  fadum,"  Gotty  explained,  with  gentle 
courtesy,  "  is  six  foot — there  or  thereabouts. 
The  Betty  draws  five  foot  six,  so  if  you  can  be 
sure  of  a  fadum  and  'half  in  this  Channel  wot 
you  talk  of,  I'm  satisfied." 

"  I  should  say  the  average  is  more  likely  to  be 
twenty." 

"  Good  enough  ! "  exclaimed  Gotty.  Then  a 
thought  suddenly  puckered  his  brow.  "  It  ain't 
near  New'aven,  is  it  ?  "  he  asked  earnestly. 

"  Newhaven  is  in  the  English  Channel.  Why 
do  you  ask  ?  " 

"Then  ercourse  I've  'card  of  the  English 
Channel,"  he  burst  forth  with  restored  self- 
esteem.  "  Lor  bless  yer,  some  o'  our  Leigh 
chaps  used  to  go  drudging  off  New'aven." 

"  Newhaven,"  I  seized  the  opportunity  to  ex- 
plain, "  is  only  one  of  many  English  harbours  in 
the  Channel.  Then  there  are  lots  of  places  on 
the  other  side — the  French  coast." 

"  Not  Dunkirk  ? "  he  demanded,  in  sudden 
excitement. 


ii2     GOTTY    AND  THE   GUVNOR 

"  Yes,  Dunkirk  is  one  of  the  French  ports  in 
the  Channel." 

"  Why,  now  !  "  said  Gotty,  with  an  heroic  but 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  repress  a  tone  of  reproof, 
"  if  you'd  said  that  before  I  should  'a  understood 
wot  you  was  talkin'  about." 

"  You  know  Dunkirk  ?  " 

"  Know  it !     Know  it !      I  should  think  I  did." 

"  I  was  not  aware  you  had  been  to  France." 

"  No  more  I  ain't,  but  I  know  them  as  'ave. 
There's  a  tidy  few  of  our  Leigh  chaps  wot  'ave 
been  drudgin'  to  Dunkirk,  and  I've  'card  'em  say 
all  about  it.  So  that's  where  we're  bound  ! "  he 
added,  as,  complacently  sitting  back  in  his  chair, 
he  stretched  forth  his  great  chest. 

"  No,  we  shan't  go  to  any  French  port." 

"  I  dunno,"  Gotty  the  skipper  replied  with 
dignity,  "  but  I  mightn't  want  to  put  in  to  Dun- 
kirk for  water,  or  salt,  or  sech-like." 

"  But  we  shall  be  miles  from  the  French  coast," 
I  explained,  still  taking  all  opportunities,  for  a 
purpose  of  my  own,  to  drive  into  Gotty's  mind 
some  conception  of  the  area  of  water  to  be  navi- 
gated. "We  shall  keep  along  the  English  coast, 
and  there  are  any  number  of  English  places 
where  we  can  call  for  supplies — Dover,  Rye, 
Hastings,  Portsmouth,  the  Isle  of  Wight " 

"  I've  'card  of  the  Wight,"  Gotty  exclaimed,  in  a 
manner  to  show  how  keenly  he  was  listening.  So 
I  continued  my  enumeration,  concerned  to  explore 
the  astonishing  gaps  in  his  geographical  knowledge 
which  the  interruption  negatively  revealed. 


CONSULTING  THE  SKIPPER      113 

"  Folkestone,  Shoreham,  Southampton,  Brigh- 
ton  " 

"  Ah  " — and  his  absorbed  face  jerked  in  assent 
as  he  caught  another  familiar  name.  "  I  know 
Brighton — a  wonderful  pretty  place." 

"  You've  been  there  ?  "   I  naturally  supposed. 

"  Didn't  I  tell  yer  " — with  some  asperity — "  I 
'aven't  bin  no  furrer  than  Margit  ?  " 

"  No  farther  than  Margate  by  water.  But  you 
might  have  been  to  Brighton  by  train." 

"  By  train  !  By  train  !  "  And  he  laughed  the 
quiet  laugh  of  a  man  who  has  heard  a  pre- 
posterous suggestion.  "  No,  I  'aven't  bin  to 
Brighton  by  train,"  he  condescended  to  explain, 
"  nor  nowhere  else  excep'  London,  when  I  used 
to  take  up  cockles  ter  sell  in  the  Old  Kent  Road  ; 
and  Chemsford,  when  I  was  courtin'  my  missis. 
And  sometimes  I  didn't  go  there  by  train,  but 
walked  to  save  the  'a'pence,  and  a  tidy  fair  stretch 
I  made  of  it,  for  arter  the  first  time  I  took  pertic'ler 
care  to  go  round  by  Rayleigh  to  give  them  gypsies 
a  berth.  Talk  about  rough  !  They'd  knock  down 
their  own  mother  to  steal  the  watch  and  chain  off 
'er  back.  They  turned  my  pockets  inside  out  and 
left  me  as  naked  as  a  pigeon.  And  you  couldn't 
do  nothin',  mind  yer,  fer  if  you  was  to  stretch  out 
'arf  a  dozen  on  'em  there'd  be  twenty  more  come 
along  ;  and  no  good  callin'  fer  'elp,  neither,  fer 
the  perlicemen  took  pertic'ler  care  never  to  go 
anywheres  nigh  'em.  A  fair  blackguard  lot — 
that's  wot  they  was.  I  do  'ear  they  be'ave  their- 
selves  better  now,  but  I  can't  say  'ow  fur  that's  true." 

H 


n4     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

Ignoring  these  irrelevant  reminiscences,  I  con- 
tinued : 

"  Poole,  Portland,  Exmouth,  Saltash,  Torquay, 
Plymouth " 

"  Plymouth  ! "  echoed  my  skipper  in  amaze- 
ment. "  But  I  thought  that's  ever  so  fur  away. 
Ain't  it  ?  "  he  asked,  in  humble  bewilderment. 

"About  three  hundred  miles,"  I  replied,  with 
studied  indifference.  "  But  of  course  we  shall  be 
going  past  Plymouth." 

"  'Ow  fur  might  we  be  goin'  ? "  the  estuary 
shrimper  demanded,  in  a  voice  of  awed  curiosity. 

"  There  and  back  ?  Well,  about  seven  hundred 
miles  I  should  say." 

"  Seven  'undred  ! "  And  Gotty  gave  a  low 
whistle. 

"  Do  you  rather  fight  shy  of  such  a  voyage  ?  " 
the  maritime  novice  asked  the  hardened  old 
salt. 

"  'Oo  ?  Me  ?  "  came  the  injured  protest.  "  Lor' 
bless  yer  'eart,  I  don't  mind  'ow  fur  we  go." 

Thus  Gotty's  co-operation  was  assured,  and  so 
absolutely  that  I  now  was  moved  to  invite  his 
criticism  on  some  points  that  rather  troubled  my 
own  mind. 

"  Do  you  think  we  shall  need  a  pilot  ? "  I 
asked. 

Gotty  was  amused.  Gotty  was  really  tickled. 
But,  suddenly  smothering  his  guffaws,  apparently 
on  recalling  that  I  was  the  owner,  he  said,  <(  Wot 
did  you  think  we  might  want  a  pilot  for — to  peel 
the  pertaters  ?  " 


CONSULTING  THE   SKIPPER      115 

"  No  ;  to  show  us  the  way." 

"  And  wot's  to  'inder  us  showin'  ourselves  the 
way?" 

"There  are  sand-banks  in  the  Channel." 

"  They  won't  'urt  us,"  came  the  ready  assurance, 
"  and  I'll  tell  yer  fur  why.  I  shall  take  pertic'ler 
care  to  give  'em  a  berth." 

"  There  are  also  rocks." 

"  Is  there  ?  Well,  we  shan't  go  anigh  'em.  I 
shan't  take  'er  too  far  inshore  —  not  likely,  on 
strange  ground,  too  !  I've  got  a  good  pair  o'  side 
lights  " — pressing  two  interpretive  fingers  against 
his  eyeballs — "  no  one  better,  thank  Gawd  ;  and 
if  I  couldn't  keep  her  off  the  shore,  I  didn't  ought 
to  be  in  charge  of  a  borley.  There  you  are  ! " 

"  Some  of  the  sands  and  rocks  are  a  long  way 
from  shore,  and  some  of  the  sands,  I  think,  are 
only  just  covered." 

"  But,  man  alive,"  cried  Gotty,  in  one  of  his 
rare  lapses  from  the  severely  respectful,  "  we've 
got  our  lead,  ain't  we  ?  And  we'd  see  the  broken 
water,  shouldn't  we  ?  And  don't  you  think,"  he 
added,  in  the  tone  of  a  mother  gently  reasoning 
with  a  stupid  child,  "  if  there's  such  things  like 
you  say  to  pull  us  up  in  the  fairway — don't  you 
think  them  we  come  ath'art  as  knows  the  ground 
'ud  give  us  word,  same  as  I'd  be  the  fust  to  do 
myself  if  I  saw  any  one  was  strange  to  these  waters. 
If  they  wouldn't,"  he  concluded,  with  emphasis, 
"  and  'ud  see  feller -creatures  risk  their  lives  to 
save  themselves  the  trouble  of  openin'  their  mouth 
— well,  it's  a  funny  world  ! "  And  Gotty's  coun- 


n6     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

tenance  darkened  with  repulsion  of  the  human 
monsters  his  imagination  had  conjured  up. 

"  Very  well,  skipper  ;  I'm  satisfied.  Now  there's 
another  point.  Would  the  mate  come  ?  " 

Gotty  did  not  at  once  reply.  With  compressed 
lips  and  contracted  brow,  he  ruminated  for  several 
tense  seconds.  Then  came  these  words,  spoken  in 
a  voice  of  conviction  : 

"  I  believe  'e  might.  Yus  " — and  from  a  further 
interval  of  reverie  he  obviously  emerged  with 
that  opinion  strengthened — "I  believe  'e  might. 
Though,  mind  yer,"  came  the  guarded  qualification, 
"  'e  may  stay  abed,  same  as  others  I  know,  while 
'is  missis  washes  'is  things.  No  one  couldn't  be 
more  clean  and  respectable  while  'e's  been  along 
o'  me,  that  I  will  say  ;  but  whether  'e's  only  got 
what  'e  stands  up  in,  or  whether  'e's  got  a  change 
o'  shiftables,  well,"  continued  Gotty,  almost  patheti- 
cally, "  it's  no  use  my  saying,  fer  I  don't  know. 
I  never  asked  'im  ;  and  it  ain't  the  sort  o'  question, 
if  you  understand  my  meanin',  you'd  be  likely  to 
ask  everybody — not  without  you  had  a  pertic'ler 
reason." 

"  If  it  were  only  a  question  of  clothes,"  was 
my  comment,  "  I  don't  think  there  need  be  any 
difficulty." 

"  What  else  could  there  be  to  stop  'im  comin'  ?  " 

"  He  might  not  care  to  leave  home  for  so  long." 

"  Oh  dear  ! — mightn't  'e  ?  "  replied  Gotty.  Then 
with  severity :  tl  Gawd  knows  what's  coming  over 
mates  nowadays,  with  not  wantin'  ter  do  this  and 
not  carin'  about  t'other.  When  I  was  mate  there 


CONSULTING  THE   SKIPPER      117 

wasn't  no  thought  of  what  7  might  like  or  what  I 
mightn't.  I  did  the  work  wot  was  expected  of 
me,  with  no  questions  and  no  grumbles,  and  I 
always  give  satisfaction.  Things  " — with  a  dismal 
shake  of  the  head — "  is  wery  dif 'rent  now.  Not 
care  about  it,  mightn't  'e  ?  Well,  it  beats  me !  It 
fair  beats  me — and  that's  the  truth." 

"  Surely,"  I  protested,  "  you  need  not  pitch  into 
the  whole  fraternity  of  mates  because  of  something 
which,  after  all,  no  mate  has  said.  It  was  only 
my  suggestion.  Perhaps  Alfred  wouldn't  mind 
leaving  home  for  a  few  weeks." 

"  I'm  certin  'e  wouldn't,"  came  the  emphatic 
opinion.  "  Alfred  ain't  that  sort.  If  'e's  got  the 
togs,  Alfred  '11  come — don't  you  make  no  mistake. 
But  it's  the  togs  what  I'm  afraid  of.  That's  where 
I  do  come  in.  I've  got  five  pair  o'  blue  flannel 
drawers,  what  I  bought  off  o'  Ginger  Jones — real 
'andsome  stuff,  and  you  can't  shrink  'em — my 
missis  says  you  can't.  They're  as  good  as  noo 
now,  and  I've  'ad  'em  ten  months,  so  that'll  show 
you.  And  I've  got  two  guernsies,  and  one  of  'em 
you  wouldn't  'ardly  know  'ad  ever  been  worn." 

Brushing  these  domestic  matters  aside,  I  said  : 
"  My  idea  is  that  we  fish  our  way  there  and  back. 
On  a  good  ground  we  can  stay  for  a  few  days, 
but  when  the  fishing  is  poor  we  can  move  on. 
And,  of  course,  whenever  we've  caught  enough 
fish  to  sell,  we  can  run  into  the  nearest  harbour 
and  sell  it.  What  do  you  think  of  that  ?  " 

"  Sounds  all  right,"  said  Gotty  thoughtfully ; 
"  and  one  thing's  sartin — the  fishing  in  that  'ere 


n8     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

Channel  can't  be  no  wuss  than  what  it  is  'ere. 
Ta'k  about  arning  a  livin' — things  never  was  so 
crool.  And  shrimpin's  bin  so  good  these  last 
years  !  That's  what  gits  over  me." 

"  Yes,  we  surely  ought  to  do  better  in  the 
Channel.  What  do  you  say  to  this  arrangement  ? 
We  each  take  a  third  share,  as  we  do  now  ;  and 
in  addition,  I'll  find  the  food,  and  give  you  both 
ten  shillings  a  week  to  send  to  your  wives." 

"  Anything  what's  agreeable  to  you,"  replied 
Gotty  with  dignity,  "  is  agreeable  to  me." 

"  That's  not  the  sort  of  answer  I  want.  Leaving 
yourself  out,  is  that  a  fair  offer  to  make  to  the 
mate  ?  " 

"  Certernly  !  "  replied  Gotty. 

"Well,"  came  my  confession,  "the  thought  in 
my  mind  is  that  a  skipper  ought  to  receive  rather 
more  than  a  mate.  But  perhaps " 

"  On  a  shrimpin'  borley,"  Gotty  made  haste  to 
remind  me,  "  skipper  and  mate  share  alike.    That's 
the  rule,  and  you  can't  git  away  from  it." 

"  Very  well.     See  what  the  mate  says." 


X 

THE   MATE'S   MYSTERIOUS   SILENCE 

WHEN,  ten  days  later,  I  met  Gotty  again,  he  came 
hurrying  towards  me  bursting  with  news : 

"  My  missis  ain't  took  'ardly  a  minute's  rest  since 
I  see  you  last — washin',  ironin',  and  mendin'. 
She's  made  my  ducks  that  white  I  didn't  know 
'em,  and  sewed  on  all  the  buttons,  she  'as ! 
They're  mostly  all  stowed  away,  drawers  and  all, 
in  my  old  kit  bag,  what  I  'ad  when  I  used  to  go 
bargin',  and  she's  clent  it  lovely.  She's  got  to 
mend  one  shirt  what  I  took  off  yesterday,  which 
she  washed  this  mornin',  and  then  I'm  ready ! 
Only,"  he  added,  "  when  you  give  the  word,  I'll 
bring  'er  up  on  the  ouse,  so  as  to  lust  'er  over 
and  give  'er  a  coat  o'  tar,  and  paint  the  topmast, 
and  the  blocks,  and  round  the  colmans.  We  must 
make  'er  a  bit  smart  afore  we  go." 

"  Good  ;  and  I'd  like  to  come  aboard  and  help. 
What  does  the  mate  say  ?  " 

"The  next  morning  after  I  see  you  I  told  'im 
where  we  was  going,  and  I  told  'im  what  you  said 
about  the  Vpence." 

"  And  what  did  he  say  ?  " 

"  He  didn't  say  nuthin' !  " 

"9 


120    GOTTY  AND  THE  GUVNOR 

"  What  did  you  understand  from  that  ?  " 

"As  fur  as  that  goes,"  Gotty  thoughtfully  re- 
plied, "  I  didn't  expec'  'e  would  say  nuthin', 
unless  it  might  be  'Oh!' — like  that.  Alfred 
never  is  one  to  say  much — 'e  thinks  it  all  to 
hisself.  My  feelin'  was  e'  might  want  to  turn 
it  over  afore  he  give  an  answer,  so  I  never  said 
no  more,  and  nex'  mornin'  I  didn't  say  no  more, 
nor  yet  for  sev'ral  mornin's,  not  another  word, 
my  thought  bein'  that  e'd  begin  fust.  But  yester- 
day, when  'e  still  didn't  say  nuthin',  I  says  to  him, 
'  Alfred,'  I  says,  '  my  missis  has  clent  my  things,' 
I  says,  '  and  mended  'em,'  I  says,  '  and  put  on  the 
buttons,'  I  says.  '  Oh  ! '  he  says  ;  and  as  'e  didn't 
say  no  more,  I  waited  a  bit  and  then  I  says  to 
'im,  ''As  your  missis  clent  your  things/  I  says, 
'  and  mended  'em  and  put  on  the  buttons  ? '  I 
says.  '  Not  yet  she  ain't,'  Alfred  says,  wonderful 
quiet,  and  'e  didn't  say  no  more.  No  more  didn't 
I.  But  I  think  'e  means  to  come." 

"He  must  make  up  his  mind  soon,  for  I  want 
to  start  next  week." 

"  Wery  good,"  said  Gotty  energetically  ;  "  then 
I  shan't  go  out  shrimpin'  no  more,  for  that  don't 
leave  us  too  much  time." 

It  was  further  settled  that,  at  six  o'clock  on  the 
following  evening,  Gotty  and  the  mate  would  arrive 
in  the  dinghey  at  Westcliff,  to  take  me  and  my 
luggage  on  board  the  Betty. 

Next  evening  I  waited  on  the  promenade  from 
six  till  seven,  not  a  little  annoyed  to  find  the 
appointment  broken.  Returning  to  the  front 


MATE'S   MYSTERIOUS  SILENCE     121 

later,  at  the  beginning  of  dusk,  I  was  greeted 
from  the  water  by  fog-horn  lungs,  and  looking  I 
beheld  that  which  filled  my  bosom  with  shame. 
A  fisherman's  rowing-boat  could  at  no  time  appear 
other  than  a  rough,  tarry  intruder  among  the  dainty 
pleasure-craft  of  Westcliff  ;  but  the  specimen  sail- 
ing towards  me,  with  Gotty  riotously  waving  from 
the  stern,  and  the  mate  bunched  up  inert  before 
the  mast,  had  the  aspect  of  a  conspicuous  brown 
dilapidation.  The  sail  was  old  and  torn  and 
tattered  beyond  the  reach  of  caricature — like 
a  wild  array  of  foul  rags  loosely  skewered 
together. 

Yet  my  chagrin  was  tempered  with  gratitude. 
How  unspeakably  lucky  that  this  marine  appari- 
tion came  now,  in  the  waning  light,  instead  of 
at  the  appointed  time,  when  I  stood  with  two 
yachting  neighbours  unsuspiciously  awaiting  its 
arrival. 

"  That  sail !  "  I  gasped,  when  the  dinghey  came 
alongside  the  stairs.  "  Where  on  earth  did  you 
get  it  from  ?  " 

With  a  not  unkindly  eye  Gotty  scanned  the  old 
mummy  cloth,  and  then  explained : 

"That  was  give  me  by  old  Peters,  seeing  he 
didn't  want  it  no  more  when  'e  bought  'isself  a 
new  'un.  It  was  give  him  last  Christmas  by 
Grunter  Morgan,  what  bought  it  second-'and  off 
o'  the  little  iron  shop — and  'ad  it  nigh  on  three 
years,  Grunter  Morgan  did.  Only,  old  Peters 
said,  as  I  'adn't  no  lug  to  my  punt,  'e  wouldn't 
throw  it  away  afore  'e  arsked  if  I  mightn't  care  to 


122     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

'ave  it.  So  I  thanked  'im  kindly,  and  it's  saved 
a  bit  o'  rowin'  one  time  and  another,  not  'arf 
it  ain't." 

Mortification  getting  the  better  of  manners,  I 
advised  Gotty  to  try  and  sell  his  venerable  trophy 
to  the  British  Museum  ;  and,  understanding  the 
observation  sufficiently  to  resent  its  spirit,  he 
humbled  me  with  this  retort : 

lt  It  ain't  a  sail  I  like  to  be  seen  'andling,  nor 
wouldn't  anybody,  but  seeing  you'd  'ad  so  much 
expense  in  buying  fust  one  thing  and  then  another, 
my  thought  was  I'd  make  do  with  this  fer  a  bit, 
and  that'd  be  one  thing  you  wouldn't  'ave  to  put 
yer  'and  in  yer  pocket  for.  It  gits  'er  along  when 
there  comes  a  draught  o'  wind,  and,  as  fur  as  that 
goes,  a  brand  noo  'un  wouldn't  do  no  more.  That's 
'ow  I  looked  at  it  ;  and  if  I  done  wrong,"  added 
the  good  old  fellow  with  proud  humility,  "  I'm 
sorry.  There  you  are.  I  can't  say  no  fairer'n 
that." 

"  Gotty,"  I  replied,  "  didn't  you  tell  me  these 
little  sails  are  made  of  much  cheaper  stuff  than 
the  big  sails  ?  " 

"  That's  right  enough,"  he  conceded.  "  Duck 
ain't  as  expensable  as  canvas — a  new-born  babe 
don't  want  to  be  told  that — but  by  the  time 
they've  made  the  eye-holes  and  sewed  the  leach, 
you  ain't  goin'  ter  see  much  change  out  of  a 
sov'rin.  And  a  sov'rin's  a  sov'rin.  Ain't  it  ? " 
he  asked. 

"  Haven't  we  another  old  sail  that  isn't  made 
of  canvas  ?  " 


MATE'S   MYSTERIOUS  SILENCE     123 

"  The  spinniker  ?  Why  " — in  amazement — "  if 
they  was  made  of  canvas  they'd  cost  nigh  on  ten 
pounds — a  big  sail  like  that  would.  And  you 
don't  want  'em  made  of  canvas.  They  wouldn't 
be  so  easy  to  'andle,  fer  one  thing — and  there 
wouldn't  be  no  sense  in  it.  They  'avn't  the  same 
wear.  There's  many  fine  days  when  you  don't 
want  'em,  and  it  ain't  likely  you'd  set  a  spinniker 
if  it  was  blowing  anything  at  all.  You'd  stand  a 
charnse  of  'aving  yer  mast  carried  away.  A 
mainsel's  different  altergether.  That's  up  in  all 
weathers,  and " 

"  Our  spinnaker,"  I  asked,  breaking  in  upon  the 
stream  of  argument,  "  is  pretty  ragged,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  No  more  than  reasonable,  seeing  'ow  old  it  is. 
Nothing  ain't  going  to  last  for  ever.  I'm  careful 
to  treat  it  tender,  and  take  it  in  when  there  comes 
anythin'  of  a  draught.  But  there  isn't  many  times 
when  it  don't  rip  somewheres  ;  and  then  I  'ave  to 
sit  down  and  mend  it.  You  can't  trust  yer  mate 
— it's  a  'undred  to  one  if  they  do  it  properly. 
They  don't  larn  'em  nowadays — not  the  same  as 
they  used " 

"  By-the-bye,  where  is  the  mate  ?  "  For  he  was 
not  accompanying  us  on  our  walk  to  my  house. 

Lowering  his  voice  to  a  confidential  key,  charged 
with  mysterious  significance,  Gotty  replied  : 

"  He's  stayed  be'ind  in  the  boat." 

"  So  I  notice.  But  isn't  he  coming  to  lend  a 
hand  in  getting  my  things  on  board  ?  " 

"  Don't  arsk  me,"  Gotty  entreated,  "  fer  I  don't 
know."  He  turned  to  earnestly  scrutinise  the 


i24    GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

vacant  perspective  of  pavement  we  had  traversed. 
The  compressed  lips,  and  involuntary  little  head 
jerks,  apparently  testified  to  a  pent-up  volume  of 
private  thought. 

"  But,"  I  exclaimed,  "  I  don't  understand. 
Doesn't  he  know  what  we've  brought  the  boat 
here  for  ?  " 

"  'E  do  ! "  was  the  dramatic  reply.  "  '  Alfred/ 
I  says,  '  we're  a  goin'  up  to  the  guv'nor's  'ouse,' 
I  says,  <  ter  get  'is  bits  of  stuff.'  All  'e  says  was 
'  Oh  ! '  and,  mind  yer,  no  one  couldn't  'ave  spoke 
more  civil  to  'im  than  what  I  did.  It's  jest  like" 
— and  Gotty  hesitated  for  a  simile  to  match  the 
intensity  of  his  disgust — "  it's  jest  like  a  brick  wall 
a-talking  to  yer." 

"  Why,"  I  exclaimed,  as  a  light  dawned  upon 
my  bewilderment,  "  he  is  staying  behind  to  mind 
the  boat ! " 

"  No  'e  ain't ! "  came  the  sledge-hammer  contra- 
diction. "  When  I  came  ashore,  and  seeing  'im 
not  offerin'  to  move,  <  Alfred,'  I  says,  <  no  one 
won't  run  away  with  ;er,'  I  says." 

"  Oh,  well  1  come  along.  We  can  carry  the 
boxes  without  his  help." 

"  Yus,  but  stay  a  bit ! "  protested  Gotty,  his 
bosom  swelling  with  indignation.  "  D'you  mean 
to  tell  me  a  mate  'asn't  a'  right  to  do  what  'e 
ought  ?  Becaws,  if  that's  what  we're  coming 
to — well,  Gawd  'elp  us." 

"  Oh,  bother  the  mate  !  We  were  talking  about 
the  untidy  sail  that  isn't  made  of  canvas." 

"  Canvas  1    Of  course  it  ain't  1 "  muttered  Gotty, 


MATE'S   MYSTERIOUS  SILENCE     125 

obviously  quite  ready,  in  that  warlike  mood,  to 
exchange  one  topic  of  grievance  for  another. 
"  Don't  I  keep  tellin'  yer  there'ud  be  no  sense 
in  'aving  a  spinniker  made  of  canvas  ?  It  'ud  be 
a  lot  more  expensable,  and " 

"  Quite  so — I  understand.  It's  the  spinnaker 
— though  when  I  was  on  the  boat  didn't  you  call 
it  by  some  other  name  ?  " 

Gotty  stopped  dead,  and  by  the  light  of  a  street 
lamp  I  perceived  that  he  was  confronting  me  with 
a  visage  of  mingled  resentment  and  perplexity. 

"  Me  call  a  spinniker  somethin'  else  ! "  he  said 
in  a  hollow  voice,  as  though  striving  to  realise  the 
significance  of  a  grotesque  and  cruel  indictment. 
"'Ere!  what  d'yer  mean?  Oh!"  he  suddenly 
cried,  and  in  so  far-reaching  a  voice  that  a  little 
dog  came  hurrying  out  of  a  front  garden  to  bark 
at  us.  "  You  ain't  thinkin'  of  the  bloon  fore-sel, 
are  yer  ?  " 

"That's  it — the  balloon  fore-sail.  The  name 
had " 

I  did  not  finish  the  sentence.  Gotty  was 
exercising  his  lungs  with  laughter — a  demonstra- 
tion of  which,  with  a  countenance  of  gravity 
assumed  to  mark  my  sense  of  his  misbehaviour, 
I  patiently  awaited  the  conclusion. 

"But,"  amid  noble  efforts  at  self-control  he 
presently  found  breath  to  exclaim,  "  a  bloon  fore- 
sel  ain't  a  spinniker  ! " 

"  Perhaps  not.  In  fact,  I  suppose  it  isn't.  Any- 
how, isn't  our  balloon  fore-sail  rather  ragged  ?  " 

"  We  ain't  got  one,"  came  the  trenchant  reply. 


126     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

"  We  'ad  one,  or,  I  should  say" — with  a  laborious 
anxiety  for  exactitude — "  we  'ad  somethin'  wot 
'ad  been  one  ;  but  it  reg'lar  fell  to  pieces.  It 
was  that  rotten  a  bluebottle  would  'a  put  'is  foot 
through  it,  let  alone  a  puff  o'  wind  rippin'  it  right 
acrost ;  and  the  last  time  I  went  to  take  it  in  it 
come  to  rags  in  my  'and,  same  as  tinder." 

"  Quite  so.  And  balloon  fore-sails  aren't  made 
of  canvas,  are  they  ?  " 

Gotty  started,  and  was  on  the  point  of  eloquence. 
He  however  shut  his  mouth  hard,  drew  his  head 
a  shade  higher,  and  sampled  the  evening  air  with 
audible  nostrils — a  victory  over  self  that  compelled 
my  admiration.  Finally  he  suffered  his  mouth  to 
open  just  sufficiently  to  let  one  quick  explanatory 
word  escape  : 

"  Caliker  ! " 

"  And  what  do  you  suppose,"  I  went  on,  still 
following  my  own  private  line  of  inquiry,  "  all 
three  sails  would  cost — I  mean  a  spinnaker,  a 
balloon  fore-sail,  and  a  punt's  lug?" 

"  Noo  'uns,"  said  Gotty,  growing  more  com- 
panionable, "  'ud  cost  a  tidy  'a'penny.  You'd  be 
surprised.  It  ain't  only  the  caliker — there's  all 
the  work  of  making  'em." 

"  But  how  much  would  they  cost  ?  " 

"  You  wouldn't  get  noo  'uns,"  he  replied  dis- 
mally, but  with  decision,  "  under  four  pound,  or 
four  pound  ten." 

"  Very  well.  Will  you  please  order  them 
to-morrow  morning,  and  say  we  want  them  at 
once." 


MATE'S   MYSTERIOUS  SILENCE     127 

If  I  had  uprooted  a  geranium  from  my  garden 
(which  we  were  just  entering),  and  smitten  my 
skipper  across  the  nose  with  it,  he  could  scarcely 
have  looked  more  startled. 

He  began  a  long  whistle,  which  finished  abruptly 
as  he  turned  to  pathetically  inquire  : 

"  D'yer  mean  it  ?  " 

".Of  course  I  do.  .  .  .  Here,  steady  there  with 
those  sweet  peas  ! " 

For,  in  the  attempt  at  some  high-spirited  evolu- 
tions, he  had  inadvertently  stepped  off  the  grass, 
and  was  blundering  in  soft  soil  amid  the  ominous 
crackling  of  little  branches.  Oh  those  great  boots 
on  my  pansies  !  When  I  arrived  to  the  rescue, 
La  France  fortunately  had  him  by  the  coat. 

Perspiring  with  apologies,  Gotty  upbraided 
himself  in  a  manner  vividly  suggestive  of  a  dual 
personality. 

"  There's  some  people,"  he  bitterly  reflected, 
"  'as  don't  know  'ow  to  be'ave  theirselves,  and 
didn't  ought  to  be  allowed  in  gentleman's  housen. 
They're  too  ignerint — that's  what  they  are.  .  .  . 
Silly  old  fool !  "  he  added,  and  in  a  manner  so 
minatory  that  I  feared  he  might  proceed  to  the 
extreme  of  punching  himself  in  the  eye. 


XI 

A   SMACK-OWNER'S   MIDNIGHT 
EXPERIENCES 

IN  porterage  Gotty  found  opportunity  for  penance, 
and,  as  some  compensation  for  the  damage  done 
to  my  blossoms,  he  insisted  on  balancing  a  stout 
oak  box  on  his  head,  and  carrying  a  piece  of 
leather  luggage  in  each  hand  ;  I  hurrying  by  his 
side  with  two  overcoats  and  a  hurricane  lamp. 

This  consignment  having  been  received  into  the 
boat  by  the  silent  mate,  Gotty  and  I  returned  for 
the  rest  of  the  goods,  his  load  comprising  a  bag 
of  tools,  two  metal  basins,  a  deck  chair,  a  parcel 
of  knives,  forks,  and  spoons,  a  spirit  stove,  three 
tin  mugs,  a  looking-glass,  two  blankets,  and  a 
coffee-pot,  so  that  nothing  remained  for  me  to 
carry  but  my  camera  and  a  basket  of  food. 

Unusually  bustling  and  pre- occupied,  Gotty 
made  but  one  remark  on  our  second  journey 
to  the  house : 

"  Fust  thing  in  the  morning,"  he  assured  me,  in 
a  tone  of  hearty  confidence,  "  I'll  go  round  and 
give  the  order.  When  Young  Tunnige  comes  to 
open  the  shop  he'll  find  me  waitin'  outside  ; 
and  when  'e  knows  we  want  'em  this  week 


MIDNIGHT   EXPERIENCES        129 

pertic'ler,  'e'll  put  all  'is  people  on  'em — I  know 
'e  will." 

As  the  laden  boat  passed  across  the  dark  water, 
I  remarked  to  the  mate  that  it  was  a  fine  evening. 


Insisted  on  balancing  a  stout  oak  box  on  his  headt  and  carrying 
a  piece  of  leather  Ivggage  in  each  hand. 

"  Yus,"  he  replied,  with  so  wide  a  gap  of  silence 
at  each  end  of  the  monosyllable  that,  by  a  natural 
human  preference,  I  addressed  the  remainder  of 
my  observations  to  the  skipper. 

As  we  came  alongside  the  Betty — which  lay 

I 


130     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

about  two  miles  from  shore,  between  Westcliff 
and  Leigh  —  I  happened  to  say  she  looked  a 
beauty,  though,  indeed,  in  the  faint  light  of  a 
cloud -screened  moon,  she  towered  out  of  the 
water  merely  as  a  black  figure  of  mystery. 

"  Not  'alf  sech  a  beauty,"  came  the  hoarse 
whisper  from  Gotty,  who  had  risen  to  offer  me 
the  assistance  of  his  arm  in  scrambling  on  board, 
"  as  she'll  look  when  she's  got  what  there's  them 
as  knows  about  and  them  as  don't." 

Those  dark  words  were  accompanied  by 
mysterious  movements  of  the  head,  from  which 
I  gathered  that  the  proposed  purchase  of  acces- 
sory sails  was  as  a  precious  secret,  not  to  be 
shared  with  a  mere  mate. 

I  had  arranged  to  sleep  on  board  the  Betty — 
an  intention  in  which,  now  that  it  came  to  the 
point,  Gotty  strove  to  shake  me.  Didn't  I  think 
it  would  be  more  comfortable  on  shore  ?  No. 
Mightn't  I  feel  strange  and  lonely  like,  not  bein' 
used  to  the  water  and  all  ?  No. 

True,  during  the  application  of  these  persuasions 
a  curious  sinking  sensation  came  over  me  on  a 
sudden  realisation  that,  however  much  I  might 
want  to,  I  could  not  go  out  to  post  a  letter  or 
buy  anything,  and  that  I  should  hear  no  milk- 
man in  the  morning.  But  I  crushed  down  these 
feeble  misgivings  as  unworthy  to  find  lodgment  in 
a  British  bosom. 

Gotty,  his  feet  in  the  dinghey,  and  his  hands  on 
the  Betty  s  bulwarks,  paused  reluctant  in  the  act  of 
departure,  and,  as  his  head  and  shoulders  bobbed 


MIDNIGHT   EXPERIENCES        131 

up  and  down,  the  light  from  my  lantern  revealed 
a  countenance  of  hopeless  entreaty. 

"  I  know  what  my  missis  '11  say,"  he  dismally 
remarked  ;  "  that  I  didn't  ought  to  'a  let  you  stay 
on  board,  and  no  more  I  oughtn't.  .  .  .  Look  'ere, 
sir,  if  you  won't  come  ashore,  wouldn't  you  like 
me  ter  stay  along  of  yer,  jest  for  company  ?" 

"  Don't  be  such  a  silly  old  ass,  Gotty,"  I  said 
politely.  "  Get  along  back  to  Leigh.  Good-night 
both." 

The  dinghey  dropped  away,  and  I  heard  the 
oars  at  work.  Next  minute  the  stentorian  voice 
of  the  skipper  was  hailing  me  out  of  the  dark- 
ness : 

"  /'//  be  out  in  the  morning,  soon  as  ever  there's 
water  in  the  creek — //,"  the  voice  added,  in  still 
louder  key,  "  //  it  don't  blow  too  'ard." 

"  Which  isn't  likely  !"  I  shouted  back  defiantly. 

"  There s  times"  ominous  tones  of  thunder  in- 
formed me,  "  when  it  aint  safe  to  put  a  boat  out  for 
several  tides  tergether.  Bui,"  the  laboured  articula- 
tion continued,  "you've  got  a  loaf  o  bread  and  a 
pot  o  marmerlade,  so  you  won't  starve  fer  a  day 
or  two." 

11  Gotty  !  "  I  shouted. 

"  Yes,  sir?"  came  the  eager  reply. 

"  Go — and — drown — -yourself!  " 

The  muffled  sound  of  hearty  guffaws  reached 
me.  Again  there  was  the  creak  of  oars  ;  and 
thereafter  was  I  alone  with  the  night. 

Now,  then,  was  the  time  ripe  to  enjoy  a  treat 
that  for  several  months  had  stood  postponed.  I 


1 32     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

wanted  to  realise  that  this  vessel  was  my  very 
own,  and  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  clay  pipe 
on  which  I  had  just  inadvertently  sat,  and  possibly 
a  few  other  trifles,  all  things  on  board  also  be- 
longed to  me,  and  in  no  sense  or  degree  to  any 
other  human  being.  I  wanted,  privately,  and  for 
the  sheer  gratification  of  the  thing,  to  bathe  and 
wallow  in  the  sense  of  proprietorship. 

Of  course  I  know  that  if  we  come  back  to 
abstract  principles,  this  state  of  mind  will,  to 
many  people,  appear  deplorable.  Nay,  in  strict 
logic,  it  was  a  denial  and  contradiction  of  my 
own  oft -reiterated  political  faith,  and  that  very 
thought  was  present  at  the  time  in  the  back- 
ground of  my  mind,  floating,  so  to  speak,  in  a 
haze  of  sub -conscious  guiltiness.  But  it  is  my 
pen's  duty  to  record  the  fact  that  I,  nevertheless, 
callously  persevered  in  the  projected  course  of 
pleasure,  and  gave  unlicensed  scope  to  the  anti- 
communistic  me,  the  pro-private  property  me — 
if  you  will,  the  curmudgeon  me. 

Whether  ownership  ecstasy  is  common  to  the 
human  race,  I  do  not  happen  to  know.  One  is 
very  apt  to  suppose  an  experience  peculiar  to 
one's  self,  and  then  one  day  be  surprised  to  find 
the  very  thing  precisely  stated  in,  say,  Shakespeare, 
where,  at  first  sight,  it  looks  like  an  unblushing 
plagiarism.  For  myself  I.  can  at  least  certify  that 
all  possessions  do  not  excite  me  to  those  pleasant 
feelings.  I  can  own  table  linen  and  encyclo- 
paedias, to  give  two  random  examples,  without 
emotion.  But  my  first  box  of  bricks  provoked 


MIDNIGHT   EXPERIENCES        133 

a  delicious  thrill  of  lordly  exaltation.  Similarly, 
on  the  first  occasion  of  owning  a  house,  I  had 
the  sensation  powerfully — and,  indeed,  prema- 
turely— for  on  the  autumn  afternoon  when  the 
owner's  spirit  descended  upon  me,  the  mortgage 
had  not  been  fully  paid  off.  But  I  attempted  an 
adjustment  of  my  own  and  the  building-society's 
rights  by  leaving  the  chimney-pots  and  roof — a 
liberal  abatement  for  the  balance  due — outside 
the  scope  of  my  endearing  thoughts. 

Lantern  in  hand,  I  set  out  to  explore  my  good 
ship  the  Betty,  and,  coming  in  rough  contact  with 
some  spars  on  the  deck,  had  early  occasion  to 
recall  with  increased  respect  some  advice  which, 
when  Gotty  gave  it  to  me  a  few  minutes  before 
his  departure,  I  was  disposed  to  regard  as 
superfluous. 

"  Now  you  be  careful,"  he  had  said  with 
severity,  "  as  you  don't  fall  overboard."  Thence- 
forward I  did  exercise  care  in  guarding  against 
that  contingency. 

I  fingered  the  sails,  proudly  reflecting  that  I 
had  the  supreme,  indisputable  right  to  hoist  them 
— if  only  I  had  known  how  to  do  so.  I  put  a 
proprietorial  hand  on  the  pendant  ropes  tangled 
about  the  mast.  I  touched  the  windlass — my 
windlass — and  tried  to  recall  how  it  was  worked. 

Down  in  the  cabin  I  received  a  vivid  impression 
of  a  solid  and  habitable  freehold.  I  went  prying 
into  my  own  lockers,  and  found  myself  far  richer 
in  rusty  iron  properties — many  of  them  most  in- 
teresting-looking things — than  I  had  known.  In 


134     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

particular  was  I  delighted  with  about  four  cubic 
feet  of  various  metal  objects  of  which  I  did  not 
know  the  uses.  At  the  tapering  extremity  of  the 
apartment  I  found  great  heaps  of  my  sails  and 
nets.  In  one  cupboard  I  cast  a  disparaging  eye 
over  part  of  a  loaf  and  some  dirty  butter  that 
presumably  belonged  to  Gotty ;  in  another,  I 
found  some  fine  large  lamps  that  doubtless 
belonged  to  me. 

But,  if  I  was  owner  of  the  cabin,  it  was  not 
without  other  occupiers.  A  noisy  family  of  flies 
were  in  possession,  and,  not  for  the  first  time  in 
history,  the  landlord  was  so  pestered  by  his  tenants 
that  he  attempted  to  expel  them.  Ruthless  efforts 
to  that  end  were,  however,  unavailing,  and  it  was 
I  who  presently  departed,  after  resolving  to  improve 
the  property  by  putting  a  ventilator  in  the  ceiling, 
and  so  securing  a  through  draught  to  carry  away 
hot  and  exhausted  air,  besides  flies.  For,  what 
with  the  closeness  of  the  cabin  atmosphere  and  the 
exertion  of  chivvying  the  diptera,  the  first  fresh- 
ness was  wearing  off  my  ownership  joys.  Nay, 
the  unstable  equilibrium  of  my  boat  had  come  as 
a  dismal  reminder  of  one  element  of  uncertainty 
in  the  projected  cruise.  Of  recent  years  I  had 
escaped  sea-sickness,  but  my  maritime  experiences 
had  been  restricted  to  liners.  Peradventure,  a 
sailing  boat  would  still  serve  me  as  vessels  of 
that  character  did,  on  each  occasion  of  my  using 
them,  in  early  youth. 

Ventilator  or  no  ventilator,  I  resolved  not  to 
sleep  in  the  cabin  on  our  cruise.  Skipper  and 


MIDNIGHT   EXPERIENCES        135 

mate  should  enjoy  the  luxury  of  its  two  bunks. 
I  would  sleep  in  the  hold. 

Thinking  to  inaugurate  that  policy  forthwith,  I 
knelt  on  deck  and  held  my  lantern  down  into  the 
main  cavity,  peering  into  its  secrets.  But  no  ; 
not  to-night.  The  place  was  a  dirty  confusion 
of  baskets,  boxes,  and  lumber.  Moreover,  it 
smelt  rankly  of  brine  and  shrimps.  To  crown 
the  matter,  I  saw  woodlice.  Manifestly  there 
must  be  a  great  clearing  and  cleansing  and 
fumigating  ere  the  hold  could  become  a  sleep- 
ing chamber.  It  was  a  fine  night.  I  would 
sleep  on  deck. 

A  stubborn  sprawling  mass  of  sail  was  selected 
as  bed,  and,  with  the  lamp  and  a  book  beside  my 
head,  I  curled  up  cosily  beneath  blankets  and  an 
overcoat.  And  the  thought  came  over  me,  if 
people  were  sensible  they  would  do  this  sort  of 
thing  more  frequently — so  refreshing,  healthy, 
and  pleasant !  Indeed,  I  felt  sorry  for  the  mass 
of  conventional  mortals  imprisoned  in  bedrooms 
and  still  air.  With  ghostly  clouds  above,  a  gentle 
sea  breeze,  and  the  rocking  of  the  ship,  mine  were 
ideal  conditions  for  sleep.  But,  not  to  divorce 
my  senses  too  speedily  from  these  soft  delights 
(for,  now  that  I  was  lying  down,  internal  uneasi- 
ness had  ceased),  I  would  first  read.  Like  an 
epicure  I  fed  my  mind  awhile  on  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson — literature  of  fresh  air  and  a  healthy 
humanity — and  fed  it  leisurely,  with  intervals  of 
listening  to  the  curlews  calling  over  the  water, 
and  watching  the  little  lights  in  the  streak  of 


136     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

illumination  that  marked  the  distant  shore.  Away 
towards  the  sea  I  could  just  discern  the  dim,  dark 
form  of  a  sister  vessel,  and  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, I  knew,  other  Leigh  bawleys  were  anchored 
in  a  scattered  line.  There  was  a  flavour  of 
romance  in  the  situation.  But,  good  gracious  ! 
on  looking  at  my  watch  I  found  it  forty  minutes 
past  midnight.  I  must  go  to  sleep,  for  laborious 
tasks  had  to  be  performed  on  the  morrow.  So 
out  went  the  light. 

Strange !  The  sensations  of  approaching  sleep 
were  wanting.  For  one  thing,  my  head  was  un- 
comfortably low,  and,  after  several  experimental 
variations  of  position,  I  was  impelled  to  sit  up 
and  enter  upon  a  wrestling  match  with  the  sail, 
in  the  endeavour  to  bunch  it  into  some  semblance 
of  a  pillow.  But  it  was  apparently  fastened  some- 
where, so  that  I  had  to  acknowledge  defeat  and 
replace  my  head  in  its  previous  situation  of  dis- 
comfort. I  went  on  trying  very  hard  to  go  to 
sleep,  though  part  of  my  attention  was  soon 
engaged  in  noting  the  penetrative  quality  of 
night  air.  Wherever  there  was  a  leak,  so  to 
speak,  in  my  shroud  of  wrappings,  an  atmospheric 
current  of  low  temperature  pushed  its  way,  and 
thus  I  was  impelled,  every  five  minutes  or  so,  to 
tighten  my  encasement. 

But  anon  it  grew  manifest  that  my  bedclothes 
were  unequal  to  their  task,  my  body,  from  being 
merely  chilly  in  places,  having  become  cold  all 
over.  Reflecting  that  this  sort  of  thing  would 
never  do,  I  arose,  clutching  my  woolly  envelope 


MIDNIGHT   EXPERIENCES        137 

about  me,  and  descended  after  all  into  the  cabin. 
The  aspect  of  the  bunk  bedding  having,  as  I 
remembered,  inspired  me  with  little  confidence, 
I  lay  down  on  the  floor. 

The  superior  warmth  of  the  cabin  gave  me 
comfort,  and  I  was  already  in  the  early  phases 
of  slumber  when  I  was  startled  by  thunder.  And 
yet  it  was  no  thunder,  for  on  a  repetition  of  the 
din  I  distinctly  heard  the  clank  clank  of  a  chain. 
So  some  one  had  come  on  board,  and  was  fooling 
with  the  machinery ! 

"  Hullo  there ! "  I  shouted,  I  hope  in  no  very 
unsteady  voice.  The  only  reply  was  a  still  more 
formidable  clanking  of  the  chain.  So  I  scrambled 
up,  and  thrust  my  head  and  shoulders  through  the 
cabin  opening,  desperately  eager  to  get  at  close 
quarters  with  the  intruder.  But  I  could  not  see 
him,  though  a  man  might  anywhere  be  lurking 
amid  those  forms  of  uncertainty  in  the  deck 
darkness. 

"  Who's  there  ? "  I  demanded.  But  all  was 
silent  save  the  splash  of  water  and  the  creak  of 
rigging. 

There  are  few  things  more  calculated  to  heighten 
a  sense  of  isolation  than  to  find  yourself  all  alone, 
yet  talking  to  some  one  who,  necessarily,  is  not 
there.  The  immediate  memory  of  your  voice  jars 
upon  your  nerves,  and  the  experience  falls  into  the 
category  of  the  creepy-crawly.  I  had  a  cold-water 
feeling  running  up  and  down  my  spine.  Then 
a  strange  thing  happened.  The  clanking  of  the 
chain  was  repeated,  and  this  time  the  noise,  with- 


138     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

out  being  more  remote,  was  much  reduced.  It 
was  the  same  sound  but  in  a  softer  key. 

Mystified,  I  withdrew  into  the  cabin,  lit  the 
lamp,  and  sat  on  a  locker  to  listen.  In  a  little 
while,  gur-r-r,  gur-r-r — clank,  clank — I  had  another 
long  drawn-out  dose  of  the  former  thunder.  It 
was  now  manifest  that  the  sound  came  from 
underneath  the  tapering  end  of  the  cabin. 

At  the  moment  of  realising  what  was  occurring, 
the  appropriate  phrase  flashed  through  my  mind. 
We  were — ahem  ! — "  dragging  our  anchor."  By 
Jove  !  a  pretty  state  of  things.  However,  it  was, 
so  to  speak,  nothing  to  do  with  me — that  is  to 
say,  I  did  not  put  the  anchor  down,  nor  did  I 
feel  sure  what  would  happen  to  the  Betty  were 
I  to  pull  the  anchor  up,  if,  indeed,  I  could  do 
so.  So  once  more  I  tried  to  go  to  sleep. 

"Ain't  that  a  light  on  Ponto's  bawley?"  These 
words  presently  came  to  me,  thin  and  faint  from 
travelling  across  the  water  ;  and  at  this  reminder 
that  I  had  failed  to  extinguish  my  lamp  (which 
threw  a  glare  about  the  hatchway)  I  repaired 
the  omission.  Then,  perceiving  a  milky  greyness 
without,  I  knew  that  day  was  dawning. 

Going  once  more  to  the  hatchway,  I  beheld 
a  perspective  of  dim  bawleys.  On  one  that  was 
near  tiny  figures  were  moving. 


XII 

OVERHAULING   OUR   CRAFT 

IN  the  full  daylight  of  five  o'clock  I  gave  up  the 
attempt  to  go  to  sleep,  and  busied  myself  with  a 
bathe  and  breakfast  until,  soon  after  eight,  the  row- 
boat  returned  with  Gotty  and  the  mate.  Only 
the  former  responded  to  my  greetings,  and  it  was 
therefore  to  him  I  imparted  my  piece  of  sensational 
news. 

"  She's  been  dragging  her  anchor  in  the  night." 

"  No  she  ain't,"  replied  Gotty,  with  more  de- 
cision than  politeness.  "  What  you  'card  was  the 
chain  droring  along  the  bottom.  I  give  'er  fifteen 
fadum,  so  she  should  ride  nice  and  comfertable." 

Gotty  said  we  could  do  nothing  until  we  had 
bought  some  paint,  with  which  view  I  the  more 
readily  concurred  because  of  a  desire  to  see  my 
morning's  mail  ;  so  we  forthwith  set  out  for  the 
shore. 

The  mate,  pulling  stroke,  was  immediately  in 
front  of  me  ;  and  I  fired  a  point-blank  question 
into  his  armour  of  taciturnity. 

"  Well,  mate,  are  you  coming  with  us  on  the 
voyage  ?  " 

He  paused  from  his  labours,  fixed  me  with  a 
139 


1 40     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

hostile  stare,  and  asked,  in  a  voice  that  was  almost 
a  shout: 

"  'Ow  about  money  ?  " 

"  That,"  I  replied,  rather  taken  aback,  "  is  a 
matter  we  have  to  discuss.  I  made  a  suggestion 
to  the  skipper,  as  a " 

"  Not  good  enough  !  D'  y'  see,  guv'nor  ?  Not 
good  enough  ! " 

His  style  grew  more  pugnacious. 

"  Very  well,"  I  said  sweetly,  "  perhaps  we  shall 
be  able  to  come  to  an  understanding.  Tell  me 
what  terms  you  suggest." 

"  A  share  of  the  fishin' — that's  right.  All  found 
— that's  right.  Then  I  want  thirty  bob  a  week. 
Or  I  don't  go.  D'yer  see?" 

"  Very  well,  I'll  talk  it  over  with  the  skipper," 
for  I  was  unable  to  read  the  secret  signals  that  in- 
dividual was  sending  me  over  the  mate's  shoulders. 
Having  rested  his  oar  across  the  boat,  Gotty  was 
busy  with  his  hands,  which,  held  flat  and  rigid, 
kept  parting  and  joining  silently  on  an  imaginary 
hinge  at  the  wrists.  It  suggested  some  one  making 
a  crocodile  in  wall  shadows. 

When  the  mate  had  withdrawn  from  our  society, 
as  happened  so  soon  as  we  landed,  I  asked  Gotty 
to  unriddle  his  previous  pantomime. 

"  'Opens  'is  mouth  too  wide  ! "  came  the  simple 
explanation,  which  was  assisted  by  an  explanatory 
thumb  jerked  over  the  speaker's  shoulder  in  the 
direction  of  the  retreating  mate. 

"  You  think  he  is  asking  too  much  money  ?  " 

"  Thirty  shillin's  all  found  and  a  share!"     Gotty 's 


OVERHAULING   OUR   CRAFT      141 

attempt,  born  of  emotion,  to  run  all  these  words 
into  one  syllable,  left  him  almost  breathless.  After 
the  impressive  pause  :  "  Too  much  !  I  should 
think  !  Why  !  "  frowning  with  dignified  indigna- 
tion, "  'e  must  think  we're  made  o'  money." 

Something  had  lifted  the  skipper  into  a  state  of 
mind  positively  proprietorial.  I,  who  had  derived 
so  much  glee  overnight  from  owning  the  bawley, 
could  not  begrudge  a  powerful  imagination  its 
suck  at  the  same  sugar  stick.  Gotty's  next  words 
hinted  at  the  wherefore  of  his  soul's  inflation. 

"  Mr.  Tunnige  started  the  young  woman  on 
the  mersheenin'  as  soon  as  ever  she  come.  All 
'ands  '11  be  on  'em  till  they're  done,  and  they're 
to  be  sent  round  to  my  'ome  on  Saturday  for 
certin." 

When,  by  appointment,  and  with  a  pound  of 
cold  meat,  I  returned  to  Leigh  jetty,  there  stood 
Gotty  with  head  more  than  usually  erect,  his  boots 
entrenched  behind  a  row  of  bright  paint  pots. 
Two  were,  indeed,  knocked  over  when,  on  espying 
me,  he  set  forth  with  incautious  footsteps  to  the 
reunion. 

Having  hastily  restored  the  sealed  vessels  of 
pigment  to  an  upright  attitude,  he  came  to  me 
with  a  self-conscious  smile  curiously  compounded 
of  schoolboy  joy  and  manly  restraint. 

After  assuring  himself,  by  looking  round,  that 
there  was  no  third  party  to  overhear  the  com- 
munication, he  leaned  forward,  and,  with  an  awk- 
ward attempt  to  appear  composed,  said  : 

"  There's  a  wooden  case  come  to  my  'ouse." 


1 42     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  Indeed !  .  .  .  Oh  yes,  I  know.  That's  all 
right.  It's  groceries  and  things  for  the  voyage." 

"  So  my  missis  said  !  "  he  gasped  ;  and  for  the 
first  time  in  my  knowledge  of  Gotty  I  saw  that  he 
was  blushing.  "  It's  as  big  as  that,"  he  went  on, 
his  hands  measuring  off  about  a  yard  and  a  half 
of  air — "  and  the  weight !  Come  all  the  way 
from  London,  too,  the  man  said  what  brought  it." 

«  Yes — from  the  Stores." 

"  I  ain't  touched  it,  mind,"  continued  my  skipper 
piously.  "Not  opened  it  or  nothin'.  There  it  is 
fer  you  to  see  the  same  as  when  it  come." 

"  Of  course  you  haven't  opened  it.  ...  Let 
us  go  aboard  and  get  on  with  our  work." 

"My  missis,"  he  went  on,  as  though  speaking 
under  hypnotic  compulsion,  "  wouldn't  'ear  of  me 
seein'  what  was  inside.  She  reg'lar  druv  me  out 
o'  doors." 

"  Why,"  I  laughed,  "  open  it  by  all  means  if 
you  want  you.  But  I  thought  it  would  be  easier 
to  unpack  the  case  on  board." 

"  So  it  would,"  came  the  eager  agreement — "  a 
lot  easier." 

I  moved  towards  the  stairs,  and  Gotty  remained 
rooted  where  we  had  been  standing. 

"  Ain't  we  going  to  fetch  it  now  ?  "  wailed  the 
empty  voice  behind  me. 

"  Surely  not !  "  I  argued.  "  Why  take  it  aboard 
until  we  are  ready  to  start  ?  It  will  only  be  in 
the  way." 

"And  are  all  them  wittles" — he  spoke  in 
measured  accents,  and  as  though  addressing 


OVERHAULING   OUR   CRAFT      143 

himself  rather  than  me — "  goin'  ter  wait  in  that 
parler  till  we  go  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  forgot ! "  said  I,  realising  in  sudden 
consternation  my  inconsiderateness.  "  That  case 
will  be  in  the  way.  Of  course  we  must " 

"  Not  at  all !  Not  at  all ! "  Gotty  half  shouted. 
"  It  ain't  nowise  in  the  way.  Jest  as  though  we'd 
mind,  even  if  it  was  ! "  And  this  was  said  in  so 
earnest  a  tone  of  kindly  protest  that  I  regarded 
the  subject  as  settled.  But  he  had  not  quite  done 
with  it. 

"  I  shan't  touch  'em,"  he  asseverated  solemnly. 
"  No  !  I  shan't  go  anigh  'em.  An'  no  more  won't 
my  missis — you  may  be  sure  o'  that" 

Eager  to  change  the  subject,  I  inquired  if  the 
mate  was  coming  out  to  help  with  the  painting. 

"'E  don't  seem  nowise  to'  urry  'isself,  do  'e  ?" 
was  the  skipper's  guarded  reply,  as  he  bent  his 
eyebrows  towards  the  town.  "  Not,  mind  you,  as 
I  don't  know  where  'e  is,  fer  I  saw  'im  standin' 
up  agin  the  railway  when  I  come  by.  '  Alfred,' 
I  says,  '  we're  goin'  on  board  to  do  a  bit  o' 
paintin',  and  the  Guv'nor,'  I  says,  '  is  comin'  to 
lend  us  a  'and.'  He  didn't  say  nothin',  and  I 
didn't  say  no  more.  One  thing,  'e  knows  we 
can't  go  without  'im,  fer  I  give  'im  the  tholes. 
I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,"  Gotty  added,  on  a 
sudden  inspiration — "  I'll  go  an'  fetch  'im." 

In  less  than  five  minutes  Gotty  returned — alone, 
and  with  compressed  lips. 

"  Isn't  he  coming  ? "  I  asked,  and,  by  way  of 
answer,  the  skipper  showed  me  the  rowlock  pins 


i44     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

in  his  hands.  In  a  strained  silence  he  got  into 
the  dinghey,  fixed  his  acquisitions  into  their  holes, 
carefully  assisted  me  on  board,  and  then,  in  grim 
silence,  fell  to  work  with  his  oars.  I  patiently 
waited  until  his  thoughts  should  ripen  into  speech. 
Particulars  of  the  affair  came  to  light  at  last : 

"  '  Alfred,'  I  says,  '  are  yer  comin'  out  ?  '  'I 
dunno,'  'e  says.  'Or  are  yer  goin'  'ome  to  'ave 
yer  dinner  fust  ? '  I  says.  '  I  dunno,'  'e  says. 
'Oh,'  says  I,  'if  you  dunno,  'oo  does?  Give 
me  them  tholes,  Alfred,'  I  says.  So  'e  give  'em 
to  me,  an'  I  come  away.  What's  gittin'  over 
some  people  is  more  than  I  do  know,  and  that's 
tellin'  you  the  truth." 

"The  mate  seems  to  have  mutinied,  in  a  mild 
sort  of  way.  Do  you  understand  that  he  throws 
up  the  job  ?  " 

"  Don't  I  tell  yer  ?  I  says,  '  Give  me  the 
tholes,'  and  'e  give  'em  to  me." 

"  Well,  that  almost  sounds  as  if  you  dismissed 
him." 

Gotty  stopped  rowing,  and  stared  at  me  in 
despair. 

"  Didn't  I  arsk  'im  if  'e  was  comin'  out  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  And  did  'e  come  ?  " 

"  No." 

"Well,  then,  'ow  can  you  say  I  sacked  'im  ? 
'E  done  it  'isself." 

"  Anyway  " — for  I  was  lost  amid  these  nautical 
niceties — "  we  have  no  mate  at  the  present  time 
— that  is  so,  is  it  not  ?  " 


OVERHAULING   OUR    CRAFT     145 

"  That's  right " — and  the  speaker's  tone  suggested 
an  improved  opinion  of  my  understanding. 

"  Well,  Gotty,  I'm  very  glad  of  it." 

"  Is  yer,  though  !     What  for  ?  " 

"  Because  I  think  Alfred  was  not  the  right  sort 
of  mate  for  our  cruise.  On  thinking  it  over,  I 
would  prefer  to  take  some  one  who  knows  the 
English  Channel." 

"  That's  a  true  word ! "  enthusiastically  ex- 
claimed my  companion,  from  whom  I  had 
expected  opposition.  "Where  I've  bin  before 
I  don't  want  nobody  to  show  me  the  way.  Where 
I  ain't  bin,  I'm  willin'  to  be  took  in  'and  by  them 
as  'ave.  I  ain't  like  some  people — too  ignerint  to 
be  larned  what  they  don't  know." 

On  this  important  point  of  engaging  a  mate  of 
experience,  I  welcomed  my  skipper's  mature  judg- 
ment, ripened,  as  I  could  not  doubt  it  was,  by 
advice  received  from  brethren  of  the  sea  over  an 
evening  glass  of  ale. 

But  further  consideration  of  the  matter  was 
postponed  by  the  fact  that,  having  arrived  on 
board  the  Betty,  we  stood  face  to  face  with  the 
first  problem  in  our  preparations,  to  wit,  What 
should  we  do  with  the  copper  ? 

The  answer  to  that  question  was  swiftly  per- 
ceived to  depend  on  the  answer  to  another, 
namely,  Were  there  any  shrimps  (allowing  a 
liberal  margin  of  meaning  to  the  word  "  any ") 
in  the  English  Channel  ?  As  one  having,  at  any 
rate,  some  shore  knowledge  of  that  region,  I  was 
asked  for  a  ruling,  but  could  merely  say  that  I  had 

I 


146     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

often,  at  seaside  resorts,  seen  paddlesome  children 
pushing  hand-gear  through  sandy  shallows,  and, 
indeed,  that  I  had  occupied  some  hours  of  my 
own  youth  in  that  manner,  once  catching  as  much 
as  half  a  cupful  of  the  nimble  creatures  in  question. 
Gotty's  eyebrows  brushed  this  evidence  aside,  and 
then,  attacking  the  original  problem  from  a  new 
standpoint,  he  said  : 

"  One  thing's  sartin' — we'll  'ave  to  git  a  noo 
copper  when  we  come  back,  fer  this  one's  fair 
'ad  its  day.  I'm  everlastin'  plaster  plaster  ter  keep 
it  tergether.  Mud  mixed  along  o'  salt's  a  good 
cement,  we  know  ;  but  that  ain't  goin'  to  'old  up 
a  iron  fireplace  what's  eat  through  with  rust — not 
fer  ever,  it  ain't." 

"  And,  of  course,"  I  pointed  out,  "  the  hold 
would  be  nicer  for  living  in  without  this  dirty 
old  thing" — an  argument,  by  the  way,  which 
increased  in  weight  the  more  I  pondered  it. 

My  timid  effort  to  reconcile  abolition  of  the 
copper  with  the  retention  of  a  possible  source 
of  revenue  was  not  favourably  received.  For 
Gotty  contented  himself  with  an  austere  shake 
of  the  head  when  I  suggested  : 

"  Couldn't  you  cook  them  in  a  saucepan  ?  " 

Finally  I  took  the  plunge,  and  eliminated 
shrimping  from  the  scope  of  our  intentions  in 
the  Channel.  Straightway,  with  a  great  shovel, 
Gotty  attacked  the  copper,  which  capitulated  on 
the  third  prod,  collapsing  at  his  feet  in  an 
avalanche  of  bricks,  cinders,  rust,  mortar,  and 
soot. 


OVERHAULING   OUR   CRAFT     147 

From  these  dusty  ruins  he  rescued  the  copper 
proper,  still  whole  and  serviceable,  and  laid  it 
respectfully  on  deck,  where  it  was  presently 
joined  by  iron  bars,  the  poker,  and  pieces  of 
firebrick  which,  because  sound  and  shapely, 
the  careful  fisherman  was  reluctant  to  consign 
to  oblivion.  The  remaining  debris,  lifted  in 
copious  shovelfuls,  went  whirling  up  in  the  air 
and  over  the  side,  to  dirty  the  sea  and  fill  little 
crabs  with  false  hope  ;  I  offering  these  perspiring 
labours  the  stimulus  of  applause.  Gotty  assured 
me  I  could  not  usefully  assist,  save  by  keeping  out 
of  the  line  of  fire. 

The  zeal  for  clearance  grows  with  its  gratifica- 
tion ;  and  once  a  man  is  fairly  launched  on  the 
business  of  throwing  things  away,  the  spirit  of 
riddance  mounts  to  his  brain,  and  he  will  go  on. 
Thus,  as  the  last  shovelful  of  ruined  copper  fell 
into  the  sea,  Gotty  looked  around  for  further  prey. 
On  second  thoughts,  away  went  the  firebricks  and 
iron  bars.  Then  he  made  a  ruthless  frontal  attack 
on  the  hold  lumber. 

Old  and  broken  fish-trunks  and  shrimp-baskets, 
decayed  sieves,  odds  and  ends  of  rope  and  net — a 
whole  rag-shop  of  musty  antiquities — were  dragged 
'to  the  light  of  day  and  sent  circling  into  the  sea, 
so  that,  with  the  tide  running  strongly  past  our 
anchored  vessel,  we  soon  had  a  wake  of  pathetic 
objects  astern. 

On  the  deck  Gotty  piled  reputable  trunks, 
baskets,  and  sieves,  the  kedge  anchor,  a  sack  of 
coal,  the  pump,  a  box  of  salt,  and  other  properties 


148     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

that  recommended  themselves  to  his  experience  as 
worthy  of  retention  ;  and,  peradventure  for  the 
first  time  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  light  and 
air  freely  penetrated  the  roomy  recesses  of  the 
hold. 

But  Gotty  had  not  done.  Standing  on  deck, 
he  drew  water  from  the  sea  in  a  bucket  tethered 
by  a  piece  of  rope,  and  this  water  he  hurled  at 
the  floor  of  the  hold.  After  a  dozen  or  so 
deluges,  he  exchanged  the  bucket  for  a  broom 
of  short,  stubborn  bristles,  and,  springing  down, 
administered  a  vigorous  brushing  to  the  area  he 
had  recently  swilled.  Then  again  he  got  to  work 
with  the  bucket,  assaulting  the  boards  with  copious 
libations. 

"  P'raps  you  wouldn't  mind,"  he  suggested,  on 
pausing  from  these  labours  to  mop  his  brow, 
"  jest  puttin'  a  few  sticks  on  the  fire,  so  as  we 
can  'ave  a  cup  o'  black  an'  green  ; "  and  when 
presently  we  sat  at  leisure  over  our  mugs  of  tea, 
I  judged  the  moment  opportune  to  apprise  my 
shipmate  of  an  intention  that  had  been  gradually 
maturing  in  my  mind. 


XIII 

SHIPPING   A   NEW   MATE 

"  GOTTY  !     1  am  going  to  choose  the  next  mate." 

"  Is  yer  though  !  "  he  exclaimed,  a  note  of  ad- 
miration in  his  voice  ;  and  he  sipped  the  steaming 
beverage  with  lips  audibly  appreciative.  "  Bray- 
vo  !  "  he  added  with  enthusiasm. 

"  Yes  ;  I  mean  to  choose  some  one  that  I  like 
the  look  of.  But  of  course  he  must  know  the 
English  Channel." 

"  Wery  good  !  Them  I  chooses  don't  turn  out 
no  class.  Now  you  'ave  a  go." 

"  Gotty,"  I  continued,  "  I  have  seen  the  very 
man — if  only  he  has  had  the  experience.  I  saw 
him  last  week,  and  took  a  great  fancy  to  him.  I 
saw  him  yesterday,  and  1  saw  him  again  this 
morning.  He  is  absolutely  the  ideal  mate  for  us 
— if,  by  great  good  luck,  he  knows  the  Channel." 

"  Whoever  might  you  be  thinking  of  ? "  asked 
my  skipper  with  a  keen  curiosity. 

"  I  don't  know  his  name,  nor  have  I  spoken  to 
him.  When  I  saw  him  first  he  was  sitting  on  that 
seat  near  the  jetty,  but  yesterday  and  to-day  he 
was  pottering  about  in  a  boat.  He  is  short  and 
plump,  with  a  round  face  that  is  very  jolly,  and 

*49 


150     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

smiling,  and  good-tempered.  He's  about  the  most 
amiable-looking  old  fellow  I've  ever  seen.  You 
must  know  him.  He  wears  a  hard  bowler  hat." 

As  I  was  speaking,  the  lines  on  Gotty's  brow 
had  grown  deeper  and  nearer,  in  sympathy  with  a 
strenuous  mental  effort  at  identification.  Suddenly 
the  furrows  of  perplexity  vanished,  and  he  cried  : 

"  You  mean  old  Rawson — what's  called  Treacle 
Tart,  only  that  ain't  'is  proper  name.  So  it's  'im 
you  was  thinking  of !  " 

My  skipper  ruminated,  and,  as  I  noted  with 
satisfaction,  he  ruminated  in  no  untranquil  spirit. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  him  for  a  mate  ? "  I 
eagerly  inquired. 

"  As  fur  as  that  goes,"  Gotty  replied  with  de- 
liberation, "  you  couldn't  find  nobody  what's  bin 
about  more.  Yer  see,  'e  used  ter  go  yachtin'  so 
much.  Bin  all  round  this  country,  old  Rawson 
'ave — I  know,  fer  'e's  told  me." 

"  Excellent !     Do  you  think  he  would  come  ?  " 

"  And  jump  at  it,  I  shouldn't  wonder.  It  takes 
'im  all  'is  time  to  make  a  few  'a'pence,  same  as  if 
anybody  might  want  ter  go  fer  a  hower's  row,  'im 
gettin'  on  in  years,  too  ;  only,  if  you  understand 
my  meanin',  we  don't  want  a  younger  man.  The 
'ard  graft  ain't  no  trouble  to  me,  but  if  I'd  got 
somebody  what  could  say  where  there's  water, 
and  where  there  ain't,  and  show  the  way  into 
'arbours  and  sech-like, — why,  I'd  feel  more  com- 
fertable.  Old  Treacle  Tart  could  do  that  easy— 
and  not  'alf  a  tidy  scholar  he  ain't,  neither.  He 
wouldn't  'ave  no  call  to  put  'isself  out  as  regards 


THEY  WERE  A  GENIAL  GROUP  OK  MARINERS,  AND  MR.  RAWSON  SAT 
IX  THE  CENTRE,  A  PICTURE  OF  CHERUBIC  AMIABILITY. 


SHIPPING   A    NEW   MATE         151 

work,  no  more  than  jest  lend  a  'and  gettin'  the 
mainsel  up,  or  sometimes  taking  a  turn  at  the 
helem.  Yes" — reflectively — "he'll  do  a  treat." 

"And  why  didn't  you  think  of  him  ?"  the  com- 
placent owner  inquired. 

"  Old  Treacle  Tart !  I  never  so  much  as  give 
'im  a  thought,"  the  skipper  made  frank  confession. 

"  Well,  we've  done  enough  work  for  to-day. 
Let's  go  ashore.  You  probably  know  the  old 
boy's  haunts  and  can  fish  him  out.  Then  we  can 
settle  the  matter." 

"  'E  might  be  in  the  Peter  Boat,  and  'e  might 
be  in  the  Ship.  It's  jest  accordin'.  Wonderful 
fond  of  a  bit  o'  company,  old  Treacle  Tart  is, 
though  'e  don't  drink.  Jest  a  glass  now  and  agin 
— that's  all.  And  'e  don't  use  much  terbacca — 
that's  another  thing." 

Half-an-hour  later  Gotty  drew  the  two  coverts 
blank.  But  an  inquiry  put  him  on  the  true  scent. 
Yet  his  brow  was  troubled. 

11  It  ain't  a  'ouse  I  care  to  use,"  he  explained. 
"  But  p'raps  you  wouldn't  mind  jest  goin'  in  to 
fetch  'im." 

They  were  a  genial  group  of  mariners,  and  Mr. 
Rawson  sat  in  the  centre,  a  picture  of  cherubic 
amiability.  It  was  rather  awkward,  but  I  blurted 
out: 

"  Could  you  spare  a  moment,  please.  I  want 
to  speak  to  you  outside." 

In  a  flutter  of  consent,  the  rotund  little  fisher- 
man came  stumping  after  me,  a  prey  to  polite 
curiosity. 


152     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  We  are  going  for  a  two  months'  fishing  cruise 
in  the  English  Channel,"  I  told  him,  when  we  had 
joined  Gotty,  "and  we  want  some  one  to  come  as 
a  sort  of  mate-pilot.  Would  you  care  about  it  ?  " 

"  The  Guv'nor's  took  a  fancy  to  yer,"  was 
supplementary  information  contributed  from  an- 
other quarter. 

His  beaming  countenance  turned  from  one  to 
the  other  in  a  confusion  of  affability  and  surprise. 

"  Yes,  why — I  should  be  very  pleased,"  he 
piped.  "  If  you  think  I  could  be  useful — well, 
yes,  certainly — I'll  come  with  pleasure.  And  how 
far,  sir,  might  I  ask,  did  you  think  of  going  ?  " 

"  A  little  beyond  Falmouth." 

"  Ah,  to  be  sure.  Well,  well,  many's  the  time 
I've  been  to  Falmouth.  And  all  the  harbours  along 
the  coast — there  isn't  one,  sir,  that  I  don't  know 
as  well  as  I  know  these  waters.  Wonderfully 
pretty  places  in  Devonshire  and  Cornwall — lovely 
scenery,  sir — as  of  course  you  are  aware." 

I  had  to  confess  myself  a  comparative  stranger 
to  Cornwall. 

"Ah  !  you'll  be  delighted  with  it — I'm  sure  you 
will,"  he  rattled  on.  "  Dozens  of  times — I  may 
say,  scores  of  times — I've  sailed  along  that  coast. 
The  gentleman  whose  yacht  I  had  charge  of — he 
was  very  fond  of  those  parts,  and  in  between  the 
chief  regattas  (for  we  did  a  deal  of  racing,  sir)  he'd 
mostly  manage  to  run  down  there  for  a  week,  or 
it  might  be  a  fortnight." 

"  I'm  afraid,"  was  my  apologetic  comment, 
"you  will  find  our  old  bawley  rather  a  rough 


SHIPPING   A   NEW   MATE        153 

craft  after  those  you've  been  used  to.  And,  by- 
the-bye,  Mr.  Rawson " — for  the  misgiving  came 
over  me  that  my  purse  was  over  slender  for  the 
task  of  engaging  an  ex-master  of  a  racing  yacht — 
"  on  what  terms  would  you  be  willing  to  come  ?  " 

"As  to  that,"  this  most  obliging  old  mariner 
hastened  to  assure  me,  "  there  won't  be  any  diffi- 
culty— I'm  quite  sure  there  won't.  Me  and  your 
skipper  '11  just  have  a  little  talk  together,"  he  added, 
with  a  delicacy  that  commanded  my  gratitude,  "and 
that  will  soon  be  settled.  We've  known  one  an- 
other, sir,  since  he  was  so  high,"  indicating  a  Gotty 
of  less  than  a  yard  in  stature.  "  And  now  I'm 
sure  you've  a  lot  of  things  to  see  to,  so  I  mustn't 
take  up  any  more  of  your  time.  Good  evening 
for  the  present,  sir."  Then  to  Gotty  :  "  I'll  be  in 
the  Bell  at  eight  o'clock,  if  that'll  suit  you." 

My  skipper,  with  a  hearty  and  sagacious  nod, 
indicated  that  it  would  ;  and,  still  smiling,  the 
fascinating  old  fellow  waddled  back  to  the  genial 
company  from  which  I  had  so  unceremoniously 
plucked  him. 

The  commander  and  the  proprietor  of  the 
LO  96  strode  along  Leigh  High  Street  in  a 
triumphant  state  of  mind. 

"  He  is  absolutely  the  very  man  for  us  ! "  ex- 
claimed the  latter. 

"  It's  took  a  load  off  my  mind  and  charnse 
it !  "  agreed  the  former. 

The  question  of  wages  was  discussed  in  a  spirit 
bordering  on  recklessness. 

"There    ain't    much    money    in   the    firm,   we 


154     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

know,"  said  one,  "  but  we  didn't  ought  to  let  'im 
slip  through  our  fingers — not  for  a  extry  shillin' 
or  two.  And  if  there  ain't  no  other  way,"  he 
added,  resolutely,  "  I'll  'ave  five  shillin's  took  off 
my  money.  There  you  are." 

"  If  necessary,"  said  the  other,  "  you  can  offer 
him  thirty  shillings  and  a  third  share." 

"  If  old  Treacle  Tart  don't  come  fer  that — 
well — ! "  and  in  a  dazed  sort  of  way  the  speaker 
whistled. 

"  And,  by-the-bye,  while  I  think  of  it — I 
shouldn't  call  him  '  old  Treacle  Tart.'  It  doesn't 
sound  respectful,  and  I'm  sure  he  would  feel  more 
comfortable  on  the  boat  if  you  addressed  him  as 
Mr.  Rawson,  as  I  certainly  shall." 

"  'Oo  was  goin'  ter  call  'im  '  old  Treacle  Tart '  ? 
Not  to  'is  face,  I  shouldn't  think  o'  doing  so.  I 
'ope  I  know  better  manners  than  that !  'im  coming 
ter  do  us  good  and  all  ! " 

Going  to  the  little  house  up  the  alley,  we  found 
that  Mrs.  Gotty  had  thoughtfully  prepared  to  re- 
ward our  labours  with  a  meat  tea  and  lettuces. 
Later,  at  the  appointed  hour,  we  set  out  for  the 
Bell. 

"  Most  likely,"  thought  my  companion,  "  we'll 
find  'im  naggin'  and  quarrellin'  with  old  Daddy 
'unt.  Them  two  are  always  at  it — contradictin' 
and  argufyin'  like  two  lawyers,  and  the  rude  things 
they  say  jest  to  aggrivate  each  other  you'd  think 
they  was  the  worst  enemies  out,  only  all  the  time 
there  ain't  a  pair  as  is  more  fond  of  one  another 
than  what  they  are.  You  see,  they  was  married 


SHIPPING   A   NEW    MATE        155 

at  the  same  time,  and  thirty  year  afterwards  their 
two  wives  died  in  the  same  year — cureous,  wasn't 
it ! — and  that  drored  'em  tergether.  They're  both 
wonderful  good  scholars,  and  you'd  be  surprised 


Them  two  are  always  at  it,  contradictiri  and  argttfyin* 
like  two  lawyers. 

at  all  the  books  they  read — only  I've  often  thought 
they  do  most  of  their  readin'  to  find  out  somethin' 
what  the  other  don't  know,  and  then  to  get  'im 
talkin'  about  it  so  as  ter  show  'im  up  wrong." 
In    the   act   of   pushing  open   the  swing  door, 


156     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

Gotty  paused  to  nudge  me  severely  with  his 
elbow. 

"  What  did  I  tell  yer  ? "  came  the  tremendous 
whisper  in  my  ear.  "  Jest  listen  to  'em  ! "  and 
indeed  it  was  impossible  not  to  be  aware  that 
a  spirited  bandying  of  personalities  was  proceed- 
ing within.  Unfortunately,  however,  our  arrival 
quelled  the  storm. 

With  fine  old-world  courtesy,  Mr.  Rawson  had 
risen,  pewter  pot  in  hand,  to  wish  me  a  "  Good 
evening,  sir,"  full  of  respectful  geniality.  Which 
of  the  half-dozen  individuals  was  his  foe-friend  I 
could  not  at  first  divine,  but  when  Gotty  and  I 
had  seated  ourselves  in  that  company,  uncertainty 
on  the  point  was  speedily  removed.  The  interest- 
ing personage  proved  to  be  sitting  by  my  side. 

I  had  passed  an  appreciative  comment  on  the 
weather,  and  this  had  been  politely  endorsed  by 
Mr.  Rawson,  who  added  the  supplementary  sug- 
gestion that  we  might  get  a  little  breeze  before 
the  morning  ;  whereupon  a  long,  bony,  claw- 
like  hand  touched  my  arm,  and  its  owner,  in 
a  rasping  voice,  offered  me  this  uncompromising 
counsel  : 

"  Don't  pay  no  heed  to  what  that  man  says. 
He's  misinformed  about  most  things,  sir,  and  I'm 
sorry  to  say  the  older  he  gets,  the  more  ignorant 
he  becomes." 

I  turned  to  behold  a  face  in  physiological  har- 
mony with  the  hand — lank  and  shrivelled.  But 
there  was  a  wealth  of  life  in  the  alert,  red-rimmed 
eyes.  This  thin  old  man  and  my  plump  Mr. 


SHIPPING   A   NEW   MATE        157 

Rawson  made  a  sufficiently  striking  contrast,  like 
unto  a  stick  and  a  ball. 

"  Any  way,"  said  Mr.  Rawson,  complacently, 
"  I  do  know  the  difference  betwixt  cement  and 
lime  "  ;  and  he  cast  a  glance  of  amused  triumph 
at  my  skinny  neighbour. 

"  I've  told  you  six  times,"  came  the  old  man's 
hot  retort,  "  that  I  never  looked  inside  the  sacks, 
but  took  the  lad's  word.  It  was  his  mistake,  not 
mine." 

"  Oh,  blame  it  on  the  poor  boy ! "  said  Mr. 
Rawson,  ruthlessly  following  up  his  advantage. 
"  He's  not  here  to  contradict  you." 

"  No,  and  I'm  glad  he  isn't  here,"  remarked 
the  astute  controversialist. 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Rawson,  off  his  guard. 

"  Because  he  wouldn't  take  any  good  in  your 
company,"  came  the  unexpected  thrust,  which 
secured  laughter  from  the  open-mouthed  listeners. 
Ere  Mr.  Rawson  had  time  to  put  a  suitable  reply 
into  words,  his  nimble -witted  antagonist  had 
fortified  his  position  by  interposing  a  mental 
distraction. 

"  If  you  know  so  much  about  cement,"  he 
remarked,  though  I  had  not  understood  Mr. 
Rawson  to  make  any  such  claim,  "  perhaps 
you  can  tell  us  the  difference  between  Port- 
land cement  and  Roman  cement." 

"  Portland  cement  is  made  from  chalk,"  replied 
Mr.  Rawson,  cautiously,  "  and  Roman  cement 
isn't." 

Conscious  that  the  question  would  have  been 


158     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

a  poser  to  me,  I  felt  that  this  reply  was  highly 
creditable.  But  Daddy  Hunt  took  a  different  view. 

"  That's  what  I  call  a  dunce's  answer,"  he 
declared.  "Roman  cement  isn't  made  of  chalk! 
And  it  isn't  made  of  cheese,  I  dare  say  you'll  tell 
us  next.  And  very  likely  you  might  think  of 
one  or  two  other  things  it  isn't  made  of." 

"  Well,  what  is  Roman  cement  made  of  ? " 
asked  Mr.  Rawson,  with  great  presence  of  mind. 

"But  that's  what  I'm  asking  you!"  gasped  his 
opponent,  outraged  by  what  was,  apparently,  a 
gross  breach  of  recognised  rules. 

"  No,  it  isn't,"  retorted  Mr.  Rawson.  "  Your 
question  was,  What  is  the  difference  between 
Portland  cement  and  Roman  cement  ?  I've  said 
what  the  difference  is.  Now  I  ask  you,  What 
is  Roman  cement  made  of  ? " 

"  Limestone,"  replied  Mr.  Hunt,  recognising 
that  he  stood  at  a  disadvantage. 

"  Quite  right,"  replied  Mr.  Rawson  cheerfully, 
though  I  strongly  suspected  that  the  information 
just  imparted  to  him  partook  of  the  nature  of 
news.  "  But  what  sort  of  limestone  ?  "  he  had 
the  cool  daring  to  inquire. 

"  Any  sort,"  snapped  old  Daddy  Hunt. 

The  machinery  of  hospitality  being  now  set  in 
motion,  the  thoughts  of  the  disputants  flowed  for 
the  moment  in  a  new  direction  ;  and  Gotty  must 
have  found  in  this  digression  an  opportunity  for 
private  signalling.  Simultaneously  rising,  he  and 
Mr.  Rawson  mysteriously  withdrew  into  the  public 
thoroughfare. 


SHIPPING   A   NEW   MATE        159 

An  altered  man,  Mr.  Hunt  was  instantly  busy 
pouring  confidences  into  my  ear : 

"  If  you  thought  of  taking  him  with  you,  sir, 
I'm  sure  you  won't  regret  it.  You  couldn't  find 
a  more  capable  man  or  one  with  more  experience. 
I  hope,  sir,  you'll  excuse  the  liberty  I'm  taking  in 
speaking  like  this,  but  I've  known  Rawson  ever 
since  we  were  both  boys  together.  You  will 
pardon  me,  sir  ?  " 

"Why,"  I  hastened  to  assure  him,  "of  course. 
I'm  only  too  grateful.  But  I  already  had  a  very 
high  opinion  of  Mr.  Rawson — he  is  so  good- 
tempered  and  obliging." 

"  Yes,  yes.  But  I  thought  you  mightn't  under- 
stand. We  have  our  little  arguments  together,  but 
it  don't  mean  anything.  You  see,  my  poor  wife 
and  his  poor  wife  both " 

But  the  sentence  was  interrupted  by  the  return 
of  Mr.  Rawson  and  Gotty. 

I  drew  a  favourable  inference  from  the  brevity 
of  their  conference.  Mr.  Rawson  went  back  to 
his  seat,  his  face  wearing  its  wonted  aspect  of 
happy  placidity.  Gotty  stepped  up  to  me,  and 
with  a  great  wink  that  affected  half  his  face, 
managed  to  convey  a  suggestion  that  I  in  turn 
should  accompany  him  on  an  excursion  into  the 
open  air. 

"  Well  ? "  I  asked  eagerly,  when  we  were  by 
ourselves. 

After  an  annoying  pause  he  replied : 

"  You  won't  'ardly  berlieve  what  I'm  going  to 
tell  yer." 


160     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  Did  you  settle  anything  ?  You  seemed  very 
quick  about  it." 

"  We  settled  every  thin' !  " 

"Well?" 

"  Now,  'ow  much  would  you  think  'e'd  be 
likely  to  ask  ?  Jest  ter  see,  now ! " 

I  looked  at  my  skipper  in  astonishment.  This 
reducing  of  the  practical  affairs  of  life  to  the  level 
of  a  guessing  competition  was  wholly  unlike  his 
usual  direct  and  downright  style.  In  my  dis- 
pleasure I  failed  at  the  time  to  perceive  that  his 
admiration  of  the  veterans'  verbal  duel  was  taking 
the  form  of  ineffective  imitation. 

"  When  you've  quite  finished  playing  the  fool, 
Gotty,"  I  remarked  with  severity,  "  perhaps  you'll 
be  good  enough  to  tell  me  what  occurred." 

"When  we  come  outside  I  says  to  'im,  'Mr. 
Rawson,'  I  says,  '  the  Guv'nor  is  willin'  ter  give 
you  so  much  and  a  share  ;  and  we  shan't  want 
fer  grub,'  I  says,  '  fer  there's  a  large  packin'-case 
full  o'  wittles  come  to  my  'ouse.'  '  I  don't  want 
no  share,'  he  says,  <  and  if  I  'ave  four  pound  a 
month  I'll  be  satisfied.'  'I'll  tell  the  Guv'nor,' 
I  says,  '  what  you  say.'  " 

So  that  nothing  remained  but  to  return  whence 
we  had  come,  and  invite  Mr.  Rawson  to  seal  the 
compact  in  a  manner  appropriate  to  the  environ- 
ment. 


XIV 

A  LESSON   IN   SEAMANSHIP 

WHEN  next  morning  I  met  my  skipper,  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  his  brain  had  been  busy  in  the 
night.  He  was  full  of  what  he  was  to  do,  and 
what  perhaps  I  wouldn't  mind  doing,  and  what 
he  had  set  Mr.  Rawson  to  do. 

Our  new  mate's  task,  considerately  chosen  as 
involving  no  particular  strain  on  his  elderly 
physique,  was  to  scrub,  tar,  and  paint  the 
dinghey,  to  which  end  Gotty  had  drawn  it  high 
and  dry  ;  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that,  even  while  we  were  talking,  the  worthy  old 
mariner  was  thus  engaged  in  my  service,  away 
behind  the  big  shed,  remote  from  the  public  eye. 

"  'E  arsked  me  this  morning  did  I  think  the 
Guv'nor  Jd  mind  lettin'  'im  dror  ten  shillin's,  as 
it'd  be  a  great  conwenience,  seein'  'e  wants  ter  git 
some  socks  and  things." 

"  By  all  means.  That  makes  us  still  more  sure 
of  him.  Say  he  can  have  a  pound  if  he  likes." 

Gotty  had  thoughtfully  arranged  to  borrow  the 
dinghey  belonging  to  a  barge  that  lay  beside  the 
jetty,  the  skipper  thereof  being  a  man  in  whose 
largeness  of  heart  he  had  confidence.  A  slight 

161  T 


A   LESSON   IN   SEAMANSHIP      163 

hitch  occurred,  in  that  neither  the  barge's  com- 
mander nor  either  of  his  subordinates  chanced  to 
be  in  sight.  But  my  ingenious  companion  swiftly 
thought  out  a  way  to  surmount  this  difficulty — 
namely,  by  borrowing  the  dinghey  without  per- 
mission. 

I  ventured  to  remark  that  I  thought  we  hardly 
ought  to  do  that  ;  at  which  he  raised  his  voice  in 
injured  protest. 

"'Ow  can  I  ast  'im,"  he  indignantly  inquired, 
"  when  'e  ain't  'ere  ?  " 

Reflecting  that  Gotty  was  far  better  acquainted 
than  I  with  the  ways  of  that  water-side  world,  I 
did  not  press  my  opposition,  but  scrambled  into  the 
alien  craft  whose  oars  he  had  already  grasped. 

Soon  after  boarding  the  Betty,  I,  under  instruc- 
tions received,  got  to  work  on  the  "  colmans " 
with  boiling  water  and  soda,  the  broom  of  short 
bristles,  and  a  scraping  tool. 

Having  pottered  about,  apparently  to  little 
purpose,  with  a  pail,  a  board,  and  divers  other 
small  properties,  Gotty  summoned  me  to  his 
assistance  beside  the  mast. 

"  Fust,"  he  explained,  "  I  want  yer  to  lay  'old 
of  this  rope " — indicating  one  in  the  tangle — 
"  and  pull  till  I  hollars  out  ter  you  to  stop. 
Arterwards  I  want  yer — if  you  dorit  mind,"  he 
added  hastily,  on  a  sudden  recollection  of  manners 
— "  to  'ave  a  go  at  this  one  " — indicating  another 
and  more  slender  rope.  "  Now,  are  yer  ready  ? 
Go!" 

I    pulled,   but    as    the   rope   did    not    move,   I 


1 64    GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

mentioned  my  conjecture  that  it  was  fastened 
somewhere. 

"  No,  it  ain't,"  I  was  informed.     "  Pull  'arder." 

Putting  therefore  more  energy  into  a  further 
effort,  I  had  the  unspeakable  gratification  of  behold- 
ing my  companion  slowly  ascend,  like  a  pantomime 
fairy,  as  he  sat  inert  upon  a  piece  of  board. 

"  Don't  let  go  !  "  came  the  anxious  instruction 
as  his  boots  passed  above  the  level  of  my  hat. 
Then  :  "  Easy  !  Easy  !  "  And  finally  a  stentorian, 
"  Whoa  ! "  as  (for  I  looked  aloft  and  saw)  his  head 
bumped  against  the  cross-trees. 

Having  disengaged  himself,  and  rubbed  the 
personal  region  of  contact,  he  requested  a  few 
more  inches  of  elevation  ;  and  then  I  was  in- 
structed to  "  make  fast  " — at  which,  realising  how 
much  depended  on  it,  I  conscientiously  wound 
the  rope  round  seven  pins  in  succession.  In  the 
act  of  hitching  it  to  an  eighth,  I  looked  up  to  see 
how  my  companion  was  occupying  himself  in  his 
dizzy  situation,  but  only  to  discover  that  he  was 
gazing  down  at  my  proceedings  like  a  man  under 
a  spell. 

"  That  didn't  ought  ter  come  adrift,  and  charnse 
it/'  he  observed  in  an  awed  voice,  and  still  with 
fascinated  eyes  fixed  on  my  multi-looped  measures 
of  safeguard. 

Proceeding  to  act  under  the  second  head  of  my 
instructions,  I  found  myself  achieving  another 
theatrical  effect,  for,  as  I  pulled  the  rope  down, 
a  bucket  went  up,  carrying  paint,  brushes  and  a 
hammer  within  reach  of  the  elevated  fisherman. 


A  LESSON   IN  SEAMANSHIP      165 

Now  was  I  free  to  give  renewed  attention  to  my 
own  task,  although  thereafter  my  activities  were 
subject  to  interruption  as  occasion  arose  to  modify 
the  aerial  situation  of  my  brother  decorator. 

Those  quiet  hours  of  sustained  application 
yielded  vivid  consequences  in  canary  yellow  on 
blocks  and  other  fittings  aloft,  and  cabbage  green 
on  the  combings,  the  windlass,  and  the  cabin-top 
below  ;  our  mutual  congratulations  over  an  even- 
ing pot  of  tea  being  marred  only  by  the  skipper's 
ungenerous  contention  that  I  had  not  stirred  my 
tins  of  paint  so  thoroughly  as  he  had  stirred  his. 

Our  appreciation  of  the  extent  and  quality  of 
our  own  work  was  by  no  means  lessened  when,  on 
landing  at  dusk,  we  slipped  round  to  see  at  what 
stage  the  first  day's  labours  of  our  new  associate 
had  brought  the  decoration  of  the  dinghey. 

"  Pore  ole  feller  !  "  was  Gotty's  comprehensive 
criticism,  when  we  stood  beside  the  grounded 
boat.  "  It's  easy  ter  see  'e  ain't  a  fust-class 
tradesman  with  'is  brush.  And  'e  couldn't  'ave 
stuck  it  long  neither,  could  'e  ?  What  a  blessin' 
it  ain't  'ard  work  what  we  want  'im  for.  Oh  dear, 
Oh  dear  !  Pore  ole  feller  !  " 

"  Well,  well,"  I  observed,  I  hope  in  not  too 
vainglorious  a  spirit,  "  it  won't  look  so  bad  when 
we  screw  on  the  name-plates  " — brass  lettering  on 
panels  of  polished  oak,  I  would  have  the  reader  to 
understand,  I  having,  in  weeks  gone  by,  devoted 
some  hours  of  leisure  to  the  fashioning  of  these 
specimens  of  twentieth-century  handicraft,  the  like 
of  which,  I  needed  no  man's  assurance,  probably 


1 66     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

never  before,  during  all  the  centuries,  adorned  a 
fisherman's  rowing-boat. 

The  labours  of  the  following  day  had  an 
emotional  prelude.  Gotty  came  to  meet  me  with 
his  bosom  in  a  tumult. 

"  You  never  saw  sech  beauties,"  was  his  in- 
coherent communication.  "  They  come  'ome 
larst  night  and  I  put  'em  ter  bed  nice  and  dry 
under  the  stairs.  Come  along  and  see  'em." 

"  Who  did  ?  See  what  ?  "  For  I  was  at  a  loss 
for  his  meaning. 

"  The  noo  sails  !  " 

We  found  Mrs.  Gotty  seated  before  the  fire  with 
the  naked  baby  lying,  frontways  down,  across  her 
knees,  and  to  be  surprised  with  this  wrigglesome 
lapful  (so  much  like  a  skinned  rabbit  to  my  man's 
eye)  set  the  good  soul  in  a  paroxysm  of  hot-cheeked 
apologetics.  Having  folded  part  of  her  apron  over 
the  pink  trophy,  she  recovered  composure  in  a 
sufficient  measure  to  admit  of  simultaneous  speech 
and  laughter. 

"  Oh  dear,  there,  now ! "  she  remarked,  "  if  I 
mightn't  have  known  he'd  be  sure  to  fetch  you. 
Those  sails,  sir — well,  and  I  don't  know  what 
you'll  think  of  me  carrying  on  a-laughing  like 
this — only,  I  can't  help  it  to  think  of  him  not 
taking  his  thoughts  off  them  since  they  came. 
They  say  a  woman  makes  a  fuss  over  a  new 
dress,  sir,  but  he's  had  them  out  four  times,  and 
fingering  them  over,  and  talk,  talk,  talk  of  nothing 
else." 

"  Yar  !    yar  !    yar  ! "    mocked  Gotty  in  helpless 


A   LESSON   IN   SEAMANSHIP      167 

warfare  with  his  little  round  dumpling  of  a  wife, 
her  scorching  exposure  of  his  human  weakness 
having,  as  was  easy  to  see,  wounded  him  to  the 
quick.  "  You  think  yerself  very  clever,  dontcher  ?  " 
added  her  discomfited  lord. 

"  No,  I  don't,  Alf,"  came  the  smiling  reply,  "  but 
I  think  you're  a  great  big  baby." 

"Oh,  do  yer?"  retorted  Gotty,  who  seldom 
shines  in  polemics  when  his  feelings  are  stirred. 

A  minute  later  his  wife's  comments  had  a  striking 
confirmation,  for  in  his  delight  at  once  more  be- 
holding the  new  sails  he  forgot  the  annoyance 
those  comments  had  caused  him. 

"There  ain't  another  borley  in  Leigh,"  he 
proudly  declared,  "  with  sich  a  nice  noo  rig-out 
as  what  we've  got.  It'll  make  some  of  'em  open 
their  eyes,  I  know  it  will." 

Indeed  I  had  some  difficulty  in  withdrawing 
him  from  those  great  masses  of  spotless  duck 
and  calico  ;  but  anon,  out  on  the  rocking  waters, 
we  again  applied  ourselves  zealously  to  the  embel- 
lishment of  the  Betty. 

My  own  duties  began  with  tarring  the  bulwarks  ; 
which  done,  I  passed  to  my  first  experience  of 
caulking.  For  when  overnight  Gotty  had  sluiced 
the  deck,  I  noticed  that  much  water  passed  through 
the  boarding  and  dripped  into  the  hold — which 
suggested  unpleasant  possibilities  to  one  who  con- 
templated using  that  region  as  a  sleeping  apartment 
and  living  room. 

"All  this  dry  weather's  opened  the  seams," 
spake  the  authority,  "  and  I  dursn't  give  the 


1 68     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

decks  a  coat  of  tar,  or  when  the  sun  strikes 
down  on  'em  you'd  be  fair  suffocated  in  the  'old. 
We'll  'ave  to  git  out  the  caulking  irons  and  go 
over  the  bad  places." 

I  discovered  indeed  that  I  possessed  an  assort- 
ment of  those  tools  (which  approximate  to  metal 
wedges,  or  chisels  with  blunt,  broad  edges), 
besides  some  of  the  all-iron  hammers  with  which 
it  is  proper  to  smite  them.  Yet  it  was  accessory 
material  that  more  particularly  engaged  my  atten- 
tion— to  wit,  brown  clouds  of  flaxen  fluffiness 
which  I  readily  identified  as  tresses  cut  from  the 
head  of  a  mermaid. 

"  No  it  ain't/'  said  Gotty,  who  was  in  a 
materialistic  mood.  "That's  tow — same  as  con- 
victs make  what  are  set  to  pick  oakum." 

You  have  to  place  a  little  bit  over  a  crack,  and 
laboriously  jamb  it  in  with  your  hammer  and  iron, 
and  when  at  last  you  have  got  it  out  of  sight  you 
have  to  place  another  piece  over  the  crack,  and 
jamb  that  after  it.  This  goes  on  until  you  cannot 
get  any  more  in  ;  then  you  are  free  to  recommence 
your  labours  farther  along  the  crack.  Mem.  : 
Have  a  care  that,  as  you  force  a  fresh  strand  in 
at  the  top,  the  lowest  strand  be  not  coming  through 
below,  and  dropping  into  the  hold,  as  happened 
twice  in  my  experience,  for  this  involves  fruitless 
and  indefinitely  extended  labour. 

After  no  more  than  one  hour  and  a  quarter  of 
this  monotonous,  noisy  drudgery,  I  found  myself 
envying  the  task  of  those  who  merely  have  to 
unloosen  the  stuff.  After  ten  minutes  more  of 


A   LESSON   IN    SEAMANSHIP      169 

it,  I  summoned  Gotty  to  say  if  he  did  not  think 
I  had  done  enough.  Somewhat  grudgingly  he 
took  that  view,  but  pointed  out  that,  so  far,  the 
operation  was  incomplete,  and  that  I  must  work  a 
little  boiling  pitch  along  the  newly-caulked  seams  ; 
which  I  did. 

At  high  tide  my  companion  suddenly  emerged 
from  a  condition  of  thoughtful  silence  to  announce 
the  intention  of  sailing  into  the  flats  "  so  as  she'll 
lust  over  and  we  can  scrape  off  the  barnicles  and 
give  'er  a  coat  o'  tar." 

At  once  the  deck  became  a  scene  of  hurry, 
bustle,  and  the  pulling  of  ropes.  My  co-opera- 
tion was  identified  with  a  succession  of  rapid  in- 
structions that  were  technical  to  the  point  of 
bewilderment. 

When  he  said  "  Lay  'old  o'  that,"  handing  me  a 
definite  rope,  I  knew  where  I  was  ;  but  we  were  a 
good  deal  at  cross  purposes  when  his  directions 
took  such  forms  as  "  Let  go  yer  main  sheet," 
"  Pull  in  yer  torpsel  tack,"  and  "  Look  out  fer 
that  warp."  However,  it  is  wonderful  how  use- 
fully one  can  be  employed,  under  a  master  mind, 
without  knowing  what  one  is  doing  ;  and  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  Betty,  no  longer  asleep  at  anchor, 
became  full  of  wild  life,  and  went  careering  through 
the  water  with  all  her  sails  distended. 

"  Lay  'old  of  the  helem,"  commanded  Gotty, 
relinquishing  the  restless  wooden  arm  into  my 
keeping  as,  scrambling  on  deck,  he  hurried  to  the 
bowsprit. 

Since  it  must  needs  be,  I  took  the  tiller  severely 


1 70     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

in  hand,  and  promptly  the  muscles  of  my  wrist 
were  busily  engaged  in  fighting  the  thing's  tend- 
ency to  pull  itself  first  in  one  direction  and  then 
in  another.  Gotty,  whose  return  I  earnestly 
desired,  had  apparently  found  a  critical  hitch  in 
the  rigging,  for  he  was  occupying  the  precious 
minutes  in  a  prolonged  struggle  with  a  rope-knot, 
resolute  teeth  assisting  baffled  fingers. 

"  Luff  ! "  he  shouted,  without  looking  round. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  asked  the  smack- 
owner. 

"  Shove  it  that  way ; "  and  he  indicated  which 
way  by  thrusting  a  hand  out  behind  him,  and 
impatiently  flapping  it,  much  after  the  manner  of 
a  man  driving  away  flies. 

"  Not  so  much  ! "  he  further  shouted,  adding 
rudely  :  "  D'yer  want  ter  jibe  'er  ! "  though  the 
circumstance  of  my  not  knowing  what  the  term 
signified  was,  I  think,  a  sufficient  guarantee  that 
my  mind  harboured  no  such  desire. 

By  dint  of  keeping  the  tiller  midway  between 
the  two  points  at  which  my  work  had  been 
criticised,  I  managed  for  the  moment  to  maintain 
the  vessel  in  her  anxious  course  of  headlong  irre- 
sponsibility. 

But  I  make  no  disguise  of  the  fact  that  my 
mind  was  oppressed  by  unease  and  misgiving.  I 
had  small  liking  for  this  blind  guiding  of  a  force 
over  which  I  had  no  intellectual  control.  Nay, 
I  found  myself  earnestly  wishing,  if  the  import- 
ance of  undoing  that  knot  were  too  great  for 
postponement,  that  at  least  an  exchange  of  jobs 


A   LESSON   IN   SEAMANSHIP      171 

might  be  effected.  I  wondered  why  so  obvious  a 
piece  of  wisdom  did  not  occur  to  my  usually  so 
sagacious  skipper. 

But  apparently  his  stubborn  struggle  with  the 
twisted  cordage  was  monopolising  his  attention  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  matters  else.  And  this  was 
the  more  dangerous  a  condition  of  affairs  because, 
as  I  suddenly  realised  in  dismay,  two  anchored 
bawleys  lay  right  in  our  path. 

As  though  reading  my  very  thoughts,  Gotty 
turned  his  head  to  remark,  with  impudent  cheer- 
fulness : 

"  Bear  up." 

I  was  astounded  that  he  should  so  far  forget 
himself  ;  and  the  taunt  was  the  harder  to  endure 
because,  whatever  my  feelings  might  be,  I  had 
certainly  shown  no  signs  of  breaking  down. 

"  Bear  up  ! "  he  had  the  audacity  to  repeat,  and 
in  a  more  outspoken  manner  than  before. 

"  I  am  bearing  up,"  I  snapped  back.  "  It 
would  take  more  than  this,  let  me  tell  you, 
to " 

"  Bear  up  !  Bear  up  ! "  yelled  Gotty,  and  his 
face  was  riven  with  such  unmistakable  lines  of 
agony,  that,  with  a  countenance  to  correspond,  I 
shouted  : 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  This  way  !  This  way  !  Shove  it  this  way  !  " 
he  cried,  vigorously  flapping  his  hand  seaward. 
And  then  I  understood. 

Having  pushed  the  tiller  in  the  desired  direction, 
and  thus  (as  I  was  horrified  to  see)  adjusted  our 


172     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

course  still  straighter  for  the  anchored  bawleys 
and  shipwreck,  I  bluntly  intimated  my  willingness 
to  relinquish  an  office  for  which  I  was  not  en- 
dowed with  the  requisite  experience. 

"  Here,  you  come  and  take  the  helm  !  I've 
had  enough." 

"  No,"  said  Gotty,  making  no  further  effort  to 
disguise  the  hollow  nature  of  his  attempt  on  the 
knotted  rope,  "  you  ain't  doin'  so  bad.  I'm  goin'  to 
larn  yer.  Stick  to  it.  You're  gittin'  on  all  right." 

The  tone  was  that  of  a  soft-hearted  child  ad- 
dressing consolation  to  a  wounded  caterpillar. 

There  being  some  dregs  of  pride  in  the  least 
exalted  among  us,  and  my  skipper  being  so 
obviously  set  on  imparting  tuition,  I  settled 
down,  with  what  steadiness  I  could  command,  to 
suffer  without  complaint  any  complicated  mis- 
adventures of  which  it  might  please  fate  to  make 
me  the  helpless  instrument. 

"  Aren't  those  two  boats  rather  in  our  way  ? " 
I,  however,  asked  ;  for,  with  the  Betty's  rapidly 
accelerating  momentum,  the  anchored  obstruc- 
tions loomed  as  a  very  immediate  danger  in  my 
imagination. 

"  Go  betwixt  'em,"  was  the  heartless  order  that 
fell  on  my  startled  ear. 

I  was  of  course  aware  of  a  controlling  relation 
between  movements  of  the  rudder  and  the  course 
of  the  vessel ;  in  other  words,  that  I  could  swing 
the  bowsprit  about  by  moving  the  tiller  ;  but  the 
heart  of  my  anxiety  lay  in  the  circumstance  that 
I  did  not  exactly  know  which  direction  of  the 


A   LESSON   IN  SEAMANSHIP      173 

one  produced  which  direction  of  the  other,  nor, 
with  everything  happening  so  quickly,  had  I 
opportunity  to  make  such  discreet  experiments 
as  would  yield  me  the  knowledge. 

Happily,  however,  as  we  neared  the  anchored 
bawleys  the  distance  between  them  proved  greater 
than  I  had  supposed  ;  which  fact,  coupled  with  the 
guidance  I  received  from  Gotty's  hand,  enabled 
us  to  pass  the  vessels  without  so  much  as  grazing 
their  hulls. 

But  the  worst  was  not  over.  Let  me  rather 
say  that  so  far  I  had  but  tasted  peril,  whereof  a 
full  meal  awaited  me.  Half  the  fleet  of  bawleys 
lay  anchored  before  us  in  an  uninterrupted  line  of 
danger  ;  and  my  infatuated  skipper  was  allowing 
me — or  rather,  was  allowing  me  to  allow  the  Betty 
— to  charge  that  line  with  all  sails  set  and  the 
breeze  driving  us  along  at  a  break-neck  speed. 

If  Gotty  had  lost  possession  of  himself — I  re- 
flected in  a  panic — that  was  no  reason  why  I 
should  not  show  discretion.  Manifestly  the  only 
course  to  adopt,  now  that  matters  had  reached 
this  critical  pass,  was  to  swerve  the  vessel  round 
into  open  water,  and  keep  her  in  areas  of  ample 
room  until  we  had  pulled  down,  or  cut  down,  the 
sails,  one  after  the  other,  and  so  suffered  our 
momentum  gradually  to  die  down. 

But  before  I  had  time  to  defiantly  initiate  that 
wise  policy,  opportunity  for  doing  so  had  gone  by. 
Bawleys  lay  to  the  right  of  us,  and  bawleys  lay  to 
the  left  of  us.  We  were  among  the  fleet,  and 
flying  into  the  very  thick  of  them  ;  and,  as  if 


174     GOTTY   AND   THE  GUVNOR 

these  floating  perils  were  not  enough,  straight 
ahead,  just  beyond  the  bawleys,  was  Leigh  jetty. 

I  dodged,  and  dodged,  and  dodged — that  is 
to  say,  the  Betty  did  ;  for,  although  I  was  the 
steersman,  some  instinct  of  her  own  seemed  to 
assist  my  convulsive  handling  of  her  helm.  Yet 
even  as  we  wended  our  swift  and  devious  way 
among  the  bawleys,  until  no  more  than  two 
remained  to  be  passed,  I  realised  how  superfluous 
was  our  success,  how  hollow  our  triumph.  For 
see !  just  ahead,  there  were  the  stone  walls  of 
Leigh,  and  no  dodging,  no  luffing,  no  bearing-up, 
could  possibly  get  us  past  them.  Nor  had  we 
time  now  to  get  down  one  sail,  leave  alone  the 
lot,  before  we  must  be  crashing  into  barges  and 
masonry.  And  there  beside  the  mast  stood  the 
madman,  going  to  certain  destruction  with  a 
meaningless  grin  upon  his  face. 

"  Luff  ! "  he  cried.  "  Luff  'ard  !  "  and  merely 
because  it  really  could  not  matter  now  what  I  did, 
I  mechanically  drove  the  tiller  in  the  suggested 
direction,  until  its  head  bumped  against  the 
bulwarks. 

Then  a  miracle  did  itself  under  my  very  hose. 

The  Betty  swung  round,  speed  fell  off  her  like 
a  mantle,  the  sails  flapped  noisily,  and  surrounding 
objects  ceased  to  move.  We  had  come  to  as 
complete  a  standstill  as  though  some  one  had 
simultaneously  turned  off  steam  and  put  on  the 
brake. 

"  Bray-vo  !  "  shouted  Gotty,  clapping  his  hands ; 
and  when  I  had  recovered  from  astonishment  at 


A   LESSON   IN   SEAMANSHIP      175 

finding  myself  still  whole  and  hale,  I  began  a  brief 
harangue  on  the  importance  of  preceding  practi- 
cal instruction  in  any  of  the  arts  with  some 
explanation  of  general,  underlying  principles. 

"  Oh  ! "  he  laughed,  "  we'll  make  a  sailorman 
of  yer  yet  ; "  which,  of  course,  was  not  the  point. 


XV 

WE  START 

MY  involuntary  lesson  in  steering  put  me  in  key 
for  further  nautical  instruction,  and  when  I  per- 
ceived that  my  expert  associate,  after  releasing  the 
anchor,  had  lowered  the  topsail,  foresail,  and  jib 
by  the  momentary  handling  of  a  rope  or  two,  I 
had  a  mind  to  be  informed  of  the  precise  methods 
by  which  those  rapid  transformations  were  accom- 
plished. 

But  his  response  bore  upon  a  different  theme, 
and  I  noted  that  his  brow  was  furrowed  and  his 
manner  preoccupied.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that 
two  matters  were  simultaneously  exercising  his 
mind. 

"  I  can  see  yer,"  he  said  to  himself  what  time  he 
stared  intently  at  the  neighbouring  jetty  (where, 
following  his  gaze,  I  merely  saw  two  men  standing 
passively  and  looking  in  our  direction).  "Well, 
you'll  'ave  to  wait,  that's  all ! "  he  added  warmly, 
still  in  private  communion  with  his  own  thoughts. 
"  I  ain't  agoing  to  let  'er  set  on  'er  anchor  ter 
please  nobody."  Then,  bitterly,  to  me  :  "  There's 
some  people  so  cretchety  they'd  make  a  fuss  about 

anythin'.     It  don't  matter,"  he  went  on  in  pious 

176 


WE  START 

wrath,  "  'ow  much  you  might  oblige  other  people 

— that  don't  count  fer  nothin'." 

"  What's  the  matter  ?     Who  are  those  men  ?" 
"  Why,"  he  protested  indignantly,  "  them  people 


"  But  look  at  'em— jest  look  at  the  nasty  way  they're  standin  there!" 

what  belong  ter  the  barge — them  people  "  (for  my 
blank  look  revealed  the  need  for  a  better  clue) 
"what  we  borrered  the  punt  off  of." 

I  could  certainly  have  taken  exception   to  his 
use  of   the   plural   pronoun,   and   in  the   circum- 

M 


178     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

stances  the  term  "  borrow  "  seemed  unduly  euphe- 
mistic ;  but,  not  to  pour  paraffin  on  fire,  I  passed 
those  points  by,  and  dealt  with  another. 

"  Do  you  think  they  will  mind  ?" 

"  Mind  !  What  call  'ave  they  ter  mind,  I'd  like 
ter  know.  But  look  at  'em — jest  look  at  the  nasty 
way  they're  standin'  there  !  Only  I  ain't  goin'  ter 
let  'er  come  to  'urt  ter  please  them  or  nobody 
else.  Let  'em  come  and  fetch  it  if  they're  in 
sech  a  'urry.  If  not,  they've  got  ter  wait — that's 
all.  Yer  see,"  he  continued,  after  looking  critically 
to  windward,  and  then  gazing  intently  over  the 
stern,  "  it's  the  worst  wind  there  is  fer  Leigh,  as 
it  holds  a  wessel  up  agin  the  ebb,  and  then  it  ain't 
nothing  but  luck  if  she  don't  set  on  'er  anchor  ; 
which  she  couldn't  do  with  any  other  wind,  if  you 
understand  my  meanin',  fer  she'd  ride  off  on  the 
tide  ter  the  end  of  'er  chain.  No  ! "  he  solilo- 
quised, his  brain  manifestly  honeycombed  with 
anxious  speculations,  "  I  don't  like  the  looks  of  it. 
What's  more,"  he  half  shouted,  his  mind  suddenly 
made  up,  "  I  won't  take  the  risk.  I'm  a-goin'," 
came  the  dramatic  announcement,  "  ter  get  the 
kedge  out — I  don't  care  'oo's  punt  it  is." 

Drawing  the  dinghey  alongside,  he  put  the 
accessory  anchor,  a  coil  of  rope,  and  himself, 
into  her,  and,  rowing  a  short  distance  astern,  he 
threw  something  overboard  that  made  a  heavy 
splash. 

"That's  the  proper  thing  to  do,"  on  returning 
he  remarked,  in  ungrudging  appreciation  of  his 
own  action.  "  Now  she  can't  get  inter  trouble. 


WE  START  179 

She's  betwixt  two  anchors,  and  each  of  'em  'olds 
'er  back  from  settin'  on  the  other.  No  one 
couldn't  find  no  fault  with  that.  Ef  they  did," 
came  the  scalding  afterthought,  "they  wouldn't 
know  what  they  was  talkin'  about." 

As  if  drawn  by  some  appeal  to  a  latent  sense, 
our  eyes  travelled  in  company  to  the  jetty,  where 
stood  the  two  men  exactly  as  I  had  seen  them 
before,  save  that  one  had  just  raised  his  right  arm 
by  way  of  arresting  our  attention.  My  companion's 
glow  of  generous  self-approval  was  quenched  as  by 
an  icy  blast. 

Sternly  calm,  he  got  back  into  the  dinghey,  sat 
down  on  the  rowing-seat  with  a  thud,  seized  the 
oars  in  ruthless  hands,  and  set  out  with  long, 
strong  strokes  for  the  jetty. 

Half  way  there  he  stopped  rowing  to  shout 
over  his  shoulder  : 

"  I  don't  'ear  wot  you  say  .   .  ." 

"...  'Ow  could  I  ast  you,"  he  ferociously 
replied  to  an  observation  that  did  not  reach  me, 
"when  you  wasn't  there!  .  .  ."  "'Oo  ought  to?  .  .  ." 

But,  the  conversation  being  continued  as  Gotty 
rowed  on  to  closer  quarters,  its  development  was 
lost  to  me.  From  watching  the  three  energetic 
figures  on  the  jetty,  however,  I  was  able  to  infer 
that  a  graceful,  if  involuntary,  act  of  courtesy  was 
being  despoiled  of  all  charm. 

The  two  men  got  into  their  boat  and  rowed 
away  on  the  falling  tide,  while  Gotty,  with  the 
stiff  carriage  of  a  man  who  has  vindicated  his 
character  against  the  tongue  of  slander,  betook 


i8o     GOTTY   AND   THE  GUVNOR 

himself  with  leisurely  footsteps  homeward.  Which 
was  a  reminder  to  me  that,  means  of  communica- 
tion with  the  shore  being  for  the  moment  wanting, 
I  could  employ  my  lonely  leisure  to  no  better 
purpose  than  by  resuming  my  duties  as  a  ship's 
decorator. 

The  white  streak,  the  name  and  the  lettering 
(all  sadly  in  need  of  renewal)  had,  on  the  ground 
of  superior  scholarship,  been  entrusted  to  me  ; 
and  to  those  matters  I  applied  myself,  with  un- 
suitable brushes  and  unremitting  zeal,  while  the 
receding  water  was  giving  place  to  mud,  on  which 
the  Betty  soon  was  softly  reclining  at  an  angle 
incompatible  with  my  comfort. 

"  A  wery  good  tradesman  ! " — words  of  com- 
mendation which,  when  they  broke  in  upon  my 
preoccupation,  caused  me  to  turn  and  behold 
Gotty  restored  to  my  society,  without  shoes  or 
stockings,  and  with  the  complacent  air  of  a  man 
newly  come  from  a  substantial  tea  enjoyed  by  his 
own  fireside. 

In  his  right  hand  he  carried  a  bucket  of  tar,  and 
tucked  under  his  left  arm  was  a  tar  brush  of  the 
variety  that  is  nearly  all  handle.  With  these,  after 
some  preliminary  scraping,  he  was  soon  engaged 
on  the  exposed  side  of  our  hull,  which,  when  later 
I  cautiously  descended  barefooted  to  the  yielding 
mud,  I  discovered  in  course  of  transformation  into 
one  huge  bulge  of  sparkling  black.  Yet  the  praise- 
worthy industry  achieving  that  result  was  destined 
to  be  mysteriously  interrupted.  Missing  an  answer 
to  a  question  I  subsequently  shouted  from  above, 


CAUSED  ME  TO  TURN  AND  BEHOLD  GOTTY  RESTORED  TO  MY  SOCIETY, 

WITHOUT  SHOES  OR  STOCKINGS,  AND  WITH  THE  COMPLACENT  AIR 

OF  A  MAN   NEWLY  COME  FROM   A  SUBSTANTIAL  TEA  ENJOYED  BY 

HIS  OWN    FIRESIDE. 


WE  START  181 

I  peered  over  the  side  to  find  both  Gotty  and  the 
tar  brush  gone. 

On  scanning  the  vicinity  I  espied  the  truant 
stooping  to  an  intimate  view  of  a  sister  vessel  in 
the  region  of  her  keel  ;  from  which  examina- 
tion he  presently  came  hurrying  back  with  such 
celerity  as  was  consistent  with  the  progress  of 
bare  feet  over  sharp  cockle  shells.  It  was  easy 
to  see  that  he  was  labouring  under  considerable 
excitement. 

"  There's  two  set  on  their  anchors,"  he  shouted, 
"  and  Laughin'  Sam's  copped  it  wonderful  bad. 
The  fluke's  gorn  in  jest  above  the  garbard  streaks 
— fair  buried  in  the  skin,  it  is.  You  never  see 
sech  a  sight.  Pore  ole  Laughin'  Sam  !  Only 
don't  it  jest  show  yer  what  I  was  sayin'." 

His  tone,  indeed,  revealed  feelings  pretty  evenly 
divided  between  sympathy  with  the  misfortune  of 
brother  fishermen  and  satisfaction  at  the  proof  of 
his  own  sagacity  which  that  misfortune  afforded. 

"  I  wonder  whether  I  didn't  ought  ter  go  and 
give  Laughin'  Sam  word  ?  "  he  said  reflectively, 
clearly  hesitating  between  altruism  and  tarring. 
His  better  self  won.  "  I  will  !  'Im  and  me 
always  was  good  friends — 'e's  not  like  some — and 
I'd  like  ter  do  'im  a  turn.  'E'd  be  the  fust  ter  do 
me  a  turn,"  he  added,  sentimentally,  "  if  it  layed 
anyways  in  'is  power — I  know  'e  would." 

Nor  did  good-nature  stop  here. 

"  Arter  tellin'  'im,  I'll  go  'ome  and  get  my 
fly-tool,  fer  there's  nothin'  'andier  fer  diggin'  a 
anchor  out,  and  that's  somethin'  Laughin'  Sam 


1 82     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

wouldn't  be  likely  ter  know,  seein'  'e  never  did  no 
sand  'eavin'  "  ;  and  the  Good  Samaritan  departed 
on  his  mission. 

I  had  restored  "  LO.  96  "  to  conspicuous  visi- 
bility on  the  port  bow  ere  voices  caused  me  to 
look  shoreward,  when  I  saw  an  approaching  group 
of  fishermen,  with  Laughing  Sam  (not,  however, 
laughing  now)  anxiously  leading  the  van,  and  with 
Gotty,  a  digging-tool  over  his  shoulder,  as  one  of 
the  rear  figures. 

On  the  conclusion  of  their  labours,  which 
included  the  putting  of  a  patch  on  the  injured 
hull,  Laughing  Sam  stepped  across  to  the  Betty, 
not  merely  to  express  envious  approbation  of  our 
newly  whitened  streak,  but  to  formally  convey  an 
emphatic  assurance  that  my  skipper  was  one  oi 
the  right  sort. 

By  a  skilful  rearrangement  of  weighty  objects, 
Gotty  insured  that  the  Betty  should  list  in  a  new 
direction  at  the  following  tide  ;  and  before  break- 
fast next  morning  my  early-rising  coadjutor  had 
completed  the  tarring  of  the  hull. 

In  the  beautification  of  our  craft  there  thus 
remained  but  one  small  detail  unaccomplished, 
namely,  the  hoisting  of  her  colours ;  and  this 
matter,  as  befitted  its  importance,  we  took  in  hand 
together,  Gotty  swarming  up  the  rigging  and 
affixing  the  brand-new  crimson  streamer  at  the 
apex  of  the  topmast,  while  I  from  below  saw  that 
he  placed  the  spindle  straight. 

We  both  appreciated  a  solemnity  in  the  situa- 
tion when,  leaving  the  little  piece  of  bunting 


WE  START  183 

significantly  fluttering  aloft,  he  descended  to  the 
deck. 

"  Now  we're  ready  ter  start  on  the  next  flood," 
he  observed,  "  and  if  we  get  into  any  trouble 
where  we're  goin',  we'll  'ave  ter  thank  the  Blessed 
One  ter  git  us  out  of  it "  ;  and  on  that  sentiment 
we  shook  hands.  Then  in  silence  he  and  I 
recrossed  the  mud. 

Having  made  my  adieux  to  relatives  and  friends, 
I  returned  to  Leigh  in  the  early  evening,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  little  house  along  the  alley.  They 
were  all  there — my  skipper  and  his  spouse,  the 
nephew,  his  parents,  and  their  baby. 

"  Well  I  never  did  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Gotty, 
flustered  and  aflush.  "  I  don't  seem  to  know  if 
I'm  on  my  head  or  my  heels"  (though,  in  truth, 
she  being  seated  in  a  chair,  that  issue  scarcely 
arose).  "  To  think  of  mine  going  away  for  so 
long  !  And  taking  some  of  the  parlour  pictures 
with  him,  he  is,  to  hang  in  the  cabin  !  It  will 
seem  strange,  and  I  do  hope,  sir,  you'll  have  a 
pleasant  time  and  he'll  behave  himself." 

"  Don't  carry  on  so  ridiculous  1  "  commanded 
Gotty,  in  a  tone  of  severity  which,  however,  in 
nowise  intimidated  his  plump  little  partner. 

"  Oh,"  she  mocked,  "  you  wouldn't  be  cross 
with  me  on  your  last  day.  And,  oh,  sir,  I  don't 
know  what  you'll  say  at  the  liberty  I've  taken,  but 
we've  made  you  up  a  bed  in  the  sitting-room,  so 
you  should  get  a  little  sleep  after  all  your  hard 
work,  which  I'm  sure  you're  not  used  to,  and 
going  to  start,  mine  says,  at  two  to-morrow 


184     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

morning  !      Oh   dear,   oh   dear,   and    I    do    hope 
you'll  lie  comfortable,  sir." 

Gotty's  self-conscious  grin  as  he  threw  open  the 
inner  door,  revealed  him  as  a  confederate  in  this 
conspiracy  for  my  comfort.  In  the  name  of  kind- 
ness, that  family  circle  had,  I  was  shocked  to  see, 
played  havoc  with  the  orderly  amenities  of  their 
parlour,  for  not  merely  had  a  bed  displaced  the 
arm-chair,  but  the  table  was  transformed  into  a 
fully-appointed  washhand  stand.  To  make  chaos 
more  complete,  a  sea-chest  rested  upon  the  case 
of  provisions,  and  across  the  sofa  lay  my  ham- 
mock and  our  chart — the  former  made,  at  Gotty's 
thrifty  suggestion,  from  a  piece  of  our  old  main- 
sail ;  the  latter,  with  accompanying  navigation 
book,  purchased  by  me  in  London  under  instruc- 
tions received  from  Mr.  Rawson. 

Having  returned  inadequate  thanks,  I  called  my 
skipper's  attention  to  a  list  I  had  that  afternoon 
compiled  of  necessaries  which  we  so  far  had  for- 
gotten to  purchase,  the  articles  ranging  from  two 
gallons  of  paraffin  to  a  penny  bottle  of  ink.  He 
and  I  immediately  sallied  forth  to  remedy  this 
remissness  before  all  the  shops  should  be  closed. 

Nearly  two  hours  later,  on  buying  half-a-dozen 
soup-plates  at  a  pawnbroker's,  we  came  to  the 
end  of  this  task,  and,  if  grievously  burdened  with 
small  parcels,  returned  triumphant  to  the  house  of 
kindness  and  upheaval. 

A  promise  to  take  formal  farewell  of  certain  of 
his  neighbours  lay  heavy,  it  was  now  revealed,  on 
my  companion's  conscience  ;  and  I  learned  that 


WE   START  185 

Mr.  Rawson  would  be  there,  and  that  my  absence 
would,  in  the  circumstances,  be  considered  a  slight 
to  the  locality. 

"There's  bin  a  deal  of  talk  one  way  and 
another  about  our  voy'ge,"  I  further  learnt  as  we 
proceeded  to  the  rendezvous,  "  and  there's  some 
as  is  positive  we  shan't  catch  no  fish,  whilst  others 
don't  see  why  we  shouldn't.  As  I  tell  'em,  they'll 
know  all  about  it  when  we  come  back." 

We  found  them  very  thickly  gathered  together, 
and  Mr.  Rawson's  benevolent  countenance  seemed 
to  reveal,  on  our  arrival,  a  modest  sense  of  relief 
that  he  would  no  longer  monopolise  felicitations 
in  which  we  all  three  had  the  right  to  share. 

An  energetic  fiddler  was  in  attendance,  and,  ere 
an  hour  had  slipped  by,  I  was  amply  aware  with 
what  impressive  sprightliness  the  ancient  township 
of  Leigh  is  disposed,  and  indeed  determined,  to 
celebrate  the  setting  forth  of  any  of  her  maritime 
burgesses  in  quest  of  the  unknown  in  distant  and 
unfamiliar  waters. 

That  my  skipper's  heart  was  touched  by  the 
good  wishes  showered  upon  him  was  sufficiently 
attested  when,  ten  minutes  before  closing  time,  he 
thrust  a  group  of  brother  fishermen  to  the  right 
and  left,  and  in  the  area  thus  cleared  occupied 
himself,  amid  accelerated  music  and  vociferous 
applause,  in  a  spirited  hornpipe  embellished  by 
high  kicking  of  a  marked  degree  of  excellence  ; 
throughout  which  performance  Mr.  Rawson's 
kindly  and  composed  countenance  wore  an  ac- 
quiescent expression,  as  though  he  desired  it 


1 86     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

to  be  understood  that  the  skipper  was  returning 
thanks  for  self  and  crew. 

When,  a  little  later,  the  genial  company 
separated  in  the  roadway,  Mr.  Rawson  went  his 
way  and  we  went  ours,  with  mutual  reiterated 
reminders  that  we  were  to  meet  three  hours  later 
to  go  aboard  and  set  sail. 

I  had,  so  far  as  sensations  went,  but  put  my 
head  on  the  pillow  when  a  brutal  thud  fell  upon 
the  parlour  door,  and  in  a  voice  that  I  recognised 
there  came  the  intimation  : 

"  Git  up  !     It's  gorn  two." 

Giving  myself  no  time  even  to  analyse  the  sense 
of  injustice  that  weighed  upon  my  spirits,  I  groped 
through  a  perfunctory  toilet  and  was  presently 
busy  assisting  Gotty  load  the  goods  on  a  borrowed 
trolley — an  operation  not  unattended  by  hitches 
which,  if  partly  arising  from  the  darkness  of  the 
night  and  the  poor  character  of  our  lamp,  were  in 
some  measure  attributable,  I  could  not  but  feel, 
to  the  precipitancy  of  my  companion's  movements. 
Soon  we  wheeled  our  way  to  the  abode  of  Mr. 
Rawson,  whom  we  found  faithfully  awaiting  us  in 
his  front  garden,  drowsily  asquat  a  large  white 
bundle  ;  and  after  he  had  saluted  me  with  sleepy 
cordiality,  and  added  his  possessions  to  the  trolley's 
burden,  we  pushed  on  to  the  water-side,  where, 
assisted  by  the  owner  of  the  vehicle,  we  were  not 
long  in  transferring  our  goods  to  the  newly  deco- 
rated dinghey,  whose  gunwale  I  conjectured  to  be 
perilously  near  the  water's  edge  when  three  human 
beings  added  their  weight  to  that  of  the  cargo. 


WE   START  187 

Before  Gotty  had  pulled  half-a-dozen  strokes,  I 
unintentionally  gave  his  nerves  a  shock. 

"  I  suppose  we've  got  everything,"  I  chanced  to 
remark. 

"  Ain't  we  ? "  he  cried,  abruptly  arresting  his 
oars.  "  What  'ave  we  fergot  ?  " 

"  I  say,  I  suppose  we've  got  everything." 

"  I  'ope  so  " — and  I  heard  him  anxiously  grop- 
ing among  the  contents  of  the  boat.  "  Yus," 
presently  came  the  reassuring  report,  "  'ere's  the 
noo  sails  ;  "  and  then,  in  a  tone  of  still  more 
grateful  relief,  "  'ere's  the  case  of  wittles.  You 
give  me  quite  a  turn,"  he  added  reproachfully,  as 
he  resumed  labours  which  soon  brought  us  skil- 
fully alongside  the  Betty. 

Gotty  and  the  mate  were  soon  busy  hoisting 
the  sails,  and  judging  that,  having  regard  to  the 
darkness,  my  co-operation  would  be  more  likely 
to  retard  than  advance  their  labours,  I  descended 
into  the  cabin,  and,  having  lit  the  lamp,  set  about 
lighting  the  fire. 

As  I  knelt  within  close  range  of  the  welcome 
warmth,  and  realised  that  we  were  slowly  moving 
through  the  water  at  the  beginning  of  our  long 
journey,  Gotty  put  his  head  in  at  the  opening, 
and,  in  a  voice  of  persuasion  not  without  its  tinge 
of  melancholy,  said : 

"  Was  yer  thinkin'  of  makin'  a  cup  of  black 
and  green  ?  I  don't  know  as  it  mightn't  freshen 
us  all  up." 

I  intimated  that  so  excellent  an  idea  should 
be  promptly  acted  upon  if  he  would  fill  the  kettle, 


1 88     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

I  being  uncertain  where  the  cask   of   water  was 
stowed. 

Ten  minutes  later  I  engineered  three  mugs  of 
steaming  tea  on  to  the  deck. 

"  It's  fust  class ! "  Gotty  paused  from  absorp- 
tion of  the  liquor  to  declare ;  and  indeed  the 
spirits  of  the  entire  ship's  company  rose  under 
the  tonic  influence. 

In  the  resulting  gossip,  I  happened  to  remark  : 

"  Aren't  we  likely  in  a  high  wind  to  get  the 
pictures  broken  ?  " 

11  There ! "  exclaimed  Gotty  in  a  startled  tone 
of  distress  ;  "if  I  'aven't  bin  and  left  'em  be'ind  ! 
Dear!  Oh,  dear!  What  d'yer  think  of  that, 
now  ?  " 

"  Well,  well,"  was  the  consolatory  comment  of 
Mr.  Rawson,  "  they'd  have  been  a  bit  in  the  way, 
wouldn't  they  ? " 

"  But  the  idea  of  me  not  remembrin',"  con- 
tinued Gotty,  in  a  tone  that  showed  how  bitterly 
he  was  disappointed  in  himself,  "  arter  takin'  them 
off  of  the  wall  and  laying  'em  on  my  beddin',  so  as 
I  couldn't  ferget  'em.  Why  ! "  with  a  shout  of 
consternation  as  he  rose  in  confusion  to  his  feet, 
"  I've  fergotten  the  beddin'  as  well.  That  is  all 
right !  Picshers,  matris,  blankets,  piller,  quilt — 
if  I  'aven't  bin  and  left  the  blessed  lot  under  the 
kitchin  table ! " 

Then  the  panic  spread  to  Mr.  Rawson. 

"  Why,  bless  me ! "  he  cried,  letting  go  of  the 
tiller,  "  I've  left  mine  behind,  too  1  Tut,  tut ! 
could  anything  be  more  provoking  ? " 


WE   START  189 

The  kindly  old  fellow,  indeed,  under  the  stress 
of  this  misfortune,  had  suddenly  grown  positively 
petulant. 

"  I  put  them  just  inside  the  doorway,"  he  com- 
plained, "  so  they  shouldn't  get  damp  on  the  grass, 
and  meaning  to  go  back  and  fetch  them  when  you 
came.  Then — how  very  annoying — I  forgot  all 
about  it." 

The  lights  of  Southend  pier  showed  faintly  far 
astern,  and  day  had  dawned  sufficiently  to  reveal 
the  fellow-sufferers  as,  dumbfounded  by  the  dismal 
coincidence,  they  stood  regarding  one  another  with 
grey  faces. 

When  I  suggested  that  we  should  go  back  for 
the  omitted  baggage  they  shook  their  heads,  and 
entered  into  explanations  concerning  the  ebbing  of 
the  water.  But  I  think  it  was  pride,  not  tide,  that 
deterred  them. 


XVI 

FIRST  DAY  AT  SEA 

WHEN  I  returned  to  the  deck,  after  rinsing  the 
mugs  and  teapot,  and  restoring  them  to  the  locker, 
day  had  fully  come  in  a  morning  glory  of  dainty 
greys  and  blues,  and  we  were  gliding  towards  an 
horizon  that  sparkled  with  silver  sunlight. 

In  certain  comfortable  moods  one  is  apt  to 
notice  incidents  unconsciously,  and  not  become 
alive  to  their  significance  until,  later,  the  memory 
record  is,  as  it  were,  accidentally  discovered. 
Thus  at  the  time,  under  the  soft  influence  of 
that  fair  scene,  I  was  not  aware — or,  rather,  I 
was  not  aware  of  being  aware — that  a  conversa- 
tion which  had  proceeded  between  mate  and 
skipper  in  my  absence,  abruptly  terminated  at 
my  approach.  Yet  in  what  immediately  followed, 
the  appeal  to  my  senses  was  emphatic  enough.  I 
was  to  receive  a  delightful  surprise. 

"  Of  course,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Rawson,  with  the 
winning  smile  which,  from  the  outset  of  our 
acquaintance,  had  excited  my  esteem,  "  we  ought 
to  just  call  in  at  Harwich  before  going  south. 
We're  both  agreed  that's  no  more  than  proper." 

"  Well,   yer   see — "   was   the   beginning  of  an 
190 


FIRST   DAY   AT   SEA  191 

observation  from  Gotty  that  had  no  continuation. 
For,  in  my  eager  assent  to  a  proposal  that  neces- 
sarily had  for  me  so  strong  an  attraction,  I 
was  guilty  of  the  rudeness  of  interrupting  the 
commander  of  the  vessel. 

"  Excellent ! "  I  exclaimed.  "  And  it  will  be 
such  a  surprise  to  my  daughter  and  the  friends 
she's  with.  It  did  occur  to  me,  of  course  ;  but  I 
was  afraid  it  would  be  too  far  out  of  our  course." 

lt  As  fur  as  that  goes,"  said  Gotty,  "  'Arwich 
ain't  any  way.  If  there  comes  a  bit  of  wind, 
we'd  be  there  this  arternoon,  easy.  Then  comin' 
away,  we  could  take  a  slant  right  acrost  ter  the 
ForlanV 

"  By-the-bye,"  I  said  to  Mr.  Rawson,  because  he 
appeared  the  ringleader  in  this  benevolent  con- 
spiracy, "  it  isn't  exactly  Harwich  where  they're 
staying,  but  Felixstoweferry." 

"  Harwich  is  one  side  of  the  river,"  the  kindly 
old  mate  explained,  "  and  Felixstowe's  the  other, 
only,  you  see,  sir,  we  must  go  to  Harwich  because 
of  the  harbour.  The  ferry  would  take  you  over." 

"  Or  I  could  easy  row  you  acrost,"  observed  my 
skipper  stoutly. 

This  agreeable  deviation  from  original  plans 
being  thus  determined  on,  Gotty,  after  engaging 
in  a  careful  survey  of  the  heavens,  submitted  to 
Mr.  Rawson  a  suggestion  of  which,  by  reason  of 
the  technical  language  in  which  it  was  couched,  I 
derived  merely  a  general  knowledge  that  it  involved 
some  delicate  point  of  seamanship. 

"  Yes,"  assented  the   helmsman,  "  I  think  you 


192     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

might ;  "  whereupon,  with  a  glad  countenance,  the 
skipper  swiftly  betook  himself  to  the  cabin. 

Thence  he  presently  emerged  hauling  a  vast 
quantity  of  whiteness,  which  he  attached  to  ropes 
and  a  long  pole,  so  that  in  a  little  while  it  was 
stretched  out  sideways  from  the  bow  as  the 
spinnaker  of  his  idolatry. 

"  Now  she  feels  it,"  he  exclaimed,  regarding  the 
snowy  sheet  with  the  eye  of  infatuation.  "  Yer 
see  " — to  me,  in  an  earnest  aside — "  it's  a  leftin' 
sail  what  reg'lar  carries  her  through  the  water." 

Strangely  enough,  the  old  mate  was  even  more 
profoundly  affected  by  this  dazzling  wing  that  the 
Betty  had  spread  forth  into  the  sunshine. 

"  Why,  I  declare,"  he  cried,  in  a  beaming 
ecstasy,  "  with  the  new  mainsail  and  all,  we  are 
quite  in  yachting  trim  ; "  and  he  squared  his 
shoulders,  and  scanned  the  surrounding  sea  with 
an  intentness  of  mien  betokening  a  determination, 
come  what  might,  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his 
office  with  unflinching  zeal. 

"When  I  was  in  charge  of  the  Pelican"  he 
presently  recalled,  "  we  came  along  here — well,  it 
might  be  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  nor'-east — on 
just  such  a  morning  as  this,  and  I  well  remember 
the  time,  sir,  for  we  had  taken  three  cups  on  the 
south  coast  that  year — no,  I'm  telling  a  story  ;  it 
was  two  cups  and  one  gold  medal — and  after  lying 
off  Southend  for  a  few  days,  so  that  my  gentleman 
could  run  up  to  one  of  the  race  meetings — I  think 
it  was  Ascot,  but  I  won't  be  sure  (he  was  a  great 
patroniser  of  the  turf,  sir,  and  had  some  fine  horses 


FIRST   DAY   AT   SEA  193 

of  his  own,  at  one  time) — well,  we  were  bound  for 
Burnham  that  morning,  and  in  all  the  years  I  was 
yachting  I  don't  remember  such  a  week  as  we 
had  there.  Nothing  could  keep  near  us — nothing ! 
We  ran  away  from  all  the  others,  sir "  ;  and,  as 
though  these  stirring  memories  prompted  the 
action,  he  turned  aside  to  draw  the  mainsail  more 
taut. 

Gotty,  who  had  been  listening  with  the  parted 
lips  of  awe,  had  no  comment  ready  ;  so,  feeling 
that  Mr.  Rawson  should  receive  some  verbal  indi- 
cation of  our  sympathetic  interest,  I  ventured 
to  ask : 

"  Did  you  steer  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes  ! "  replied  the  veteran,  and  in  a  tone 
gently  apprising  me  that  the  remark  I  had  let  fall 
could  be  attributable  only  to  inexperience.  "  The 
skipper  of  a  yacht  always  has  the  helm  in  a  race. 
My  gentleman  was  most  particular  about  that,  and 
one  day  when  I  was  called  away  to  go  to  a 
funeral,  he  had  her  scratched  for  a  race,  rather 
than  any  one  else  should  take  my  place.  Most 
likely  you  wouldn't  believe " 

But  I  did  not  learn  what  was  the  particular 
matter  with  which  my  powers  of  credulity  might 
not  be  able  to  cope.  For  at  that  moment  Gotty 
broke  forth  with  exclamations  highly  irrelevant  to 
the  subject  under  consideration  : 

"  Don't  Dan  Porter  look  ter  be  fast  ?  I  know  e 
is  !  Ain't  'e  ?  " 

Following  the  course  of  his  anxious  eyes,  I  saw, 
some  way  ahead  of  us,  a  bawley  neither  sailing 

N 


194     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

nor  at  anchor,  but  with  her  mainsail   sluggishly 
flapping. 

Mr.  Rawson  gave  the  vessel  his  careful  atten- 
tion, and  then  delivered  the  verdict : 

"  She's  fast.  Dear  me  !  The  second  time  this 
week  !  " 

"  Pore  ole  Dan  ! "  muttered  Gotty,  and  he 
proceeded  to  explain  for  my  benefit :  "  Out  'ere 
fish-trawlin'  pretty  near  every  mornin',  'e  is,  and 
no  one  only  ole  Dan  dursn't  put  'is  gear  overboard 
anywheres  nigh  'ere,  on  account  of  the  wrecks 
laying  so  thick  on  the  bottom.  But  old  Dan's 
wonderful  well  acquainted  with  the  ground,  and 
often  as  not  'e  brings  in  a  nice  lot  of  fish — not 
'alf,  'e  don't — fer  it's  a  funny  thing,  but  where 
you  find  wrecks  there  you're  sure  to  find  soles  and 
plaice.  They  seem  to  'arbour  'em." 

Hand  to  mouth,  and  in  a  sympathetic  voice 
of  loud  and  lofty  pitch,  Gotty  inquired  across  the 
intervening  water  : 

"  Are  yer  copped  it  bad,  mate  ?  " 

A  figure  came  to  the  side  of  the  other  vessel — a 
portly  figure  with  a  face  which,  it  was  easy  to 
infer,  was  normally  of  a  benevolent  character,  but 
which  at  the  moment  was  crimson  and  choleric ; 
and  Mr.  Porter  bellowed  in  pain  and  reply : 

"  This  is  comin'  ter  be  a  nice  d place  ter 

fish  in  !     I  believe  the  d wrecks  lay  side  by 

side    in    a    d long   row,    I'm    d d    if    I 

don't ! " 

"  'E  ain't  quite  'isself,  old  Dan  ain't ! "  said 
Gotty,  drawing  back  much  scandalised  (though,  I 


FIRST   DAY  AT   SEA  195 

think,  less  on  his  own  behalf  than  on  mine). 
"  Only,"  he  added  apologetically,  "  you  can't 
'ardly  wonder  at  the  pore  feller  takin'  it  so  much 
to  'eart,  when  it's  very  likely  two  pound  gorn — 
and  fust  'aul,  too  !  " 

Then — as  though  realising  that  he  was  not 
absolved  from  sympathy  with  suffering  because  of 
the  sufferer's  language,  however  deplorable  that 
might  be — he  once  more  gave  his  voice  the 
requisite  elevation,  and  asked  : 

"  Is  she  much  tore  ?  " 

"  Gorings  clean  gone  and  the  uppers  ripped 
right  acrost  !  "  came  the  technical,  if  tempestuous, 
reply  of  the  irate  Mr.  Porter ;  and  disgustfully  he 
held  up  handfuls  of  his  injured  property.  "  Never 
no  more  ! "  he  shouted,  savagely  shaking  his  head. 

"  That's  always  what  'e'll  say,"  Gotty  informed 
me  with  an  austere  wink.  "  Every  time's  goin'  ter 
be  the  finish,  but  then  'e  thinks  it  over  and  over 
in  'is  own  mind  till  'e  gets  'isself  ter  believe  it 
wouldn't  'ave  'appened  if  'e'd  bin  more  careful ; 
and  'e  comes  back  fishin'  'ere  as  'appy  as  a  lark, 
'is  mate  says,  and  a  baby  couldn't  be  more  civil- 
spoken  till  'e  gets  fast  agin,  and  then  'is  company 
ain't  fit  fer  nobody.  You  see,  'e  trusts  'isself  more 
than  most,  and  it  makes  'im  reg'lar  mad  to  get 
took  in  by  'is  own  thoughtfulness." 

Mr.  Daniel  Porter  had  by  this  time  gone  below 
— peradventure  to  enlarge  his  mate's  acquaintance 
with  the  English  language  —  and  soon  we  had 
left  that  little  scene  of  human  emotion  remotely 
astern. 


196     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

For,  as  my  companions  noticed  before  I  did,  the 
wind  was  freshening.  Nay,  it  was  not  long  before 
my  cautious  skipper  was  taking  in  the  spinnaker 
with  a  swift  activity  suggestive  of  athletics. 

Ripples  took  the  place  of  a  flat  sea,  and  ripples 
in  turn  were  succeeded  by  waves,  so  that  the  Betty 
heaved  herself  about  in  a  confusion  of  grey  water, 
and  the  sails  and  the  rigging  complained  of 
stretching  and  strain.  If  I  became  silent  and 
thoughtful,  the  spirits  of  my  companions  rose 
with  the  wind.  Gotty  broke  into  song  (some- 
thing about  a  bold  young  sailor  leaving  his  mother 
with  a  hey,  hey,  hey,  and  a  ho,  ho,  ho)  ;  while 
Mr.  Rawson  devoted  to  the  tiller  a  positively 
enthusiastic  earnestness.  Also — when  the  bold 
sailor  had,  at  the  sixth  verse,  gone  to  sea  and  got 
out  of  the  way — he  favoured  me  with  some  more 
of  his  recollections. 

"  It's  just  like  being  on  the  Pelican,  sir,  and 
when  I  look  round  I  almost  expect  to  see  my 
gentleman  back  again.  Ah  !  he  was  a  nice  man, 
and  so  open-handed  with  his  money !  Besides 
spirits  and  bottled  beer,  there  was  always  plenty 
of  claret  and  port  wine  and  sherry  on  board. 
Oh  !  he'd  have  no  stint  on  his  yacht.  And  cigars 
and  cigarettes — boxes  of  them  !  I've  never  tasted 
such  game  pies  since — sent  down  from  London, 
they  were,  with  a  lot  of  other  beautiful  food  ; 
though  we'd  got  a  good  cook  on  board." 

"  Is  that  gentleman  dead  ?  "  I  asked,  the  thought 
being,  I  admit  to  my  shame,  born  of  the  wish  ; 
for,  to  tell  the  simple  truth,  those  pantry  refer- 


FIRST   DAY  AT   SEA 


197 


ences  had  heightened  unpleasant  sensations  from 
which  I  had  been  free  when  the  sea  was  smooth. 
Moreover,  on  moral  and  ethical  grounds,  as  I  told 


"  Is  that  gentleman  dead  ?"  I  asked,  the  thought  being,  I 
admit  to  my  shame,  born  of  the  wish. 


myself,  I  did  not  approve  of  Mr.  Rawson's  paragon 
of  prodigality. 

"Yes,  sir,  he  died  twenty  years  ago.  Poor 
fellow,  he  had  a  lot  of  trouble  towards  the  end. 
It  broke  his  heart,  I  think,  when  the  yacht  went, 
and  then  everything  else  was  sold.  I  did  hear 
he  had  been  living  up  to  ^3000  a  year  on  an 


198     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

income  of  ^800.  Ah  !  he  was  too  generous,  too 
open-handed — that  was  his  downfall." 

"  I  should  call  him  a  thief,"  I  said,  pursuing  my 
posthumous  enemy  into  the  very  grave — to  such 
lengths  of  tactlessness  and  bad  taste  will  the  pre- 
monitions of  sea-sickness  drive  a  certain  class  of 
mind. 

"  No  one  don't  know  'ow  bad  they  is,  nor  yet 
'ow  good,  till  they  get  the  charnse  of  showing  it," 
said  Gotty,  who  was  offensively  smoking  shag 
tobacco  in  a  foul  clay  pipe. 

Pelican  reminiscences  being  stayed  for  the  time 
being,  I  sat  me  in  my  deck  chair  and  yielded  to 
a  feeling  of  drowsiness,  from  which  presently  I 
was  partly  roused  by  Mr.  Rawson's  almost 
motherly  endeavour  to  interest  me  in  a  pair  of 
cormorants  perched  upon  a  beacon.  Gotty, 
equally  unaware  that  I  wished  to  sleep,  deemed  it 
his  duty  to  give  me  details  of  two  sunken  ships 
whose  masts,  protruding  prominently  out  of  the 
water,  I  should  not  otherwise  have  noticed.  But 
observing  me  gape  thrice  amid  his  moving  narra- 
tives concerning  these  ill-fated  vessels,  he  politely 
admitted  my  need  of  the  repose  of  which  over- 
night I  had  been  robbed,  and  so,  leaving  me 
undisturbed  in  my  chair,  withdrew  to  talk  in 
subdued  tones,  and  as  between  sailorman  and 
sailorman,  with  the  old  mate. 

Though  to  all  outward  seeming  I  slumbered, 
my  senses  remained  alert  to  what  was  passing, 
and  indeed  I  occasionally  opened  a  humble  eye 
on  the  proceedings  of  my  pair  of  mariners.  On 


FIRST   DAY  AT  SEA  199 

a  chance  allusion  to  compasses,  Mr.  Rawson  (in 
a  spirit  of  precaution  for  which  I  felt  grateful) 
requested  Gotty  to  fetch  the  Betty's,  so  that  he 
might  satisfy  himself  as  to  its  reliability. 

"  It's  a  great  big  'un  in  a  box,"  explained 
Gotty,  who,  I  knew,  was  not  a  little  proud  of  the 
instrument,  which  was  part  of  the  bawley's 
outfit  when  we  purchased  her. 

He  brought  it  on  deck  and  removed  the  box-lid, 
which  proved  to  be  in  two  pieces. 

"  But  the  card  don't  move ! "  was  Mr.  Rawson's 
horrified  exclamation,  when  in  vain  he  had  varied 
the  position  of  the  box. 

"  I  dessay  it's  a  bit  stiff,"  the  skipper  hastily 
explained,  and,  having  lifted  the  glass  cover,  he 
lent  the  assistance  of  his  thumb  to  polar  influence. 
Yet  if,  under  this  persuasion,  the  dial  consented 
to  rotate,  it  must  have  manifested  a  disconcerting 
impartiality  at  a  stopping  place  ;  for  the  old  mate 
indignantly  exclaimed  : 

"  First  it  points  east,  and  now  it's  due  south  ! 
A  pretty  state  of  things — no  compass !  And 
suppose  we  ran  into  a  fog,  or  night  came  on 
before  we  made  a  harbour.  This  ought  to  have 
been  seen  to  before  we  started." 

"  I  never  so  much  as  give  it  a  thought,"  was 
Gotty 's  abject  explanation. 

"Then  you  ought  to,"  snapped  the  old  yachts- 
man ;  and  Gotty  made  no  reply.  But  I  noticed 
(for  the  incident  had  opened  my  eyes  in  more 
senses  than  one)  that,  hanging  his  head  dejectedly, 
the  skipper  was  fidgeting  with  the  instrument. 


200     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

Finding  the  dial  was  easy  to  remove,  he  re- 
moved it. 

Then  exclamations  of  surprise  broke  simultan- 
eously from  my  shipmates. 

"  Why,  if  it  ain't  'alf  full  of  water  ! "  was 
Gotty's  supplementary  comment. 

"  And  been  there  for  years,  by  the  look  of  it ! " 
quoth  Mr.  Rawson  scornfully.  "  You've  never 
used  that  compass  !  " 

"  I  never  'ad  no  call  to — not  to  steer  by,  my 
meanin'  is  ;  but  I've  many  a  time  took  it  out  ter 
look  at  it.  Only  the  other  day  I  was  showin'  it 
ter  the  Guv'nor.  '  Ain't  we  got  a  lovely  compass  ? ' 
I  say,  and  'e  says  '  Yus.'  Only  I  never  knowed  it 
was  'alf  full  of  water,  or  I'd  'ave  poured  it  out 
sharp,  fer  I  know  a  compass  didn't  ought  ter  'ave 
water  in  it."  Obviously  the  regrettable  omission 
was  now  rectified,  for  I  heard  the  intrusive  fluid 
splashing  on  the  deck.  Gotty  resumed,  more 
cheerfully  : 

"  I  dessay  it'll  work  all  right  now.  There  you 
are  ! "  For  manifestly  he  had  replaced  the  disc, 
and  was  now  watching  it  behave  more  in  harmony 
with  science.  <'  That's  north,  ain't  it  ?  Now  go 
agin.  There  you  are !  It's  gorn  back.  Nothin' 
ain't  the  matter  with  that  compass,  I  tell  yer." 

"  When  we  get  to  Harwich,"  said  Mr. 
Rawson  severely,  "  I  shall  take  it  round,  first 
thing,  to  my  friend  Goldsmith,  and  get  him 
to  test  it." 

"  Well,  that'd  make  sure,  wouldn't  it  ? "  said 
Gotty  humbly. 


FIRST   DAY   AT   SEA  201 

"  Pull  your  jib  sheet  in  a  bit,"  said  Mr.  Rawson  ; 
and  Gotty  went  forward  to  do  so.  Then  I  must 
have  fallen  asleep.  For  I  awoke  to  hear  Gotty 
say  : 

"  I  fancy  it  must  'ave  been  fergot.  But  I'll 
'ave  another  try,  fer  it  may  be  under  all  them 
swiss  milks.  My !  Ain't  there  a  lot.  Here  it  is, 
ain't  it  ?  But  it  don't  'ardly  look  like  sugar. 
Pscht ! " — it  was  the  sound  of  lips  rejecting  a 
disappointing  flavour — "  it's  soda  !  Hullo  !  More 
soap  !  What's  this  ?  Razins  !  This  feels  like 
sugar — no,  it's  currents,  and  not  'alf  a  tidy  lot. 
Soap  agin !  What-ho !  Terbacca !  And  don't 
it  smell  all  right  !  Why,  if  this  ain't  another  lot  o' 
soap  !  What's  'e  want  it  all  for  ?  " 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  replied  Mr.  Rawson, 
in  the  manner  of  a  man  too  prudent  to  waste  his 
time  over  baffling  mysteries.  "What's  in  that 
bottle  ?  " 

"  I  dunno.     P'raps  you  can  tell  by  the  label." 

"  Lime  juice  !  " 

"  Oh  !     Sour  stuff,  ain't  it  ?  " 

"  Yes.     Do  you  see  any  tea  ?  " 

"  No — nor  yet  sugar.  But  there  seems  a  tidy 
lot  of  most  everything  else.  'Ere's  another  sort 
o'  oatmeal.  'Ere's  another  eight  pound 'o'  them 
biscuits  !  More  corfee  !  And  good  night !  if 
there  isn't  some  more  swiss  milks  ! " 

"  Perhaps  the  sugar  is  in  this  big  tin." 

"  Oh,  I  ain't  looked  in  there,  'ave  I  ?  And  the 
chap  what  put  on  the  lid  didn't  mean  nobody 
should  look  inside,  seemin'ly." 


202     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  Here,  prize  it  open  with  my  knife." 

"  Now,  you've  got  ter  come.  Ah !  That's 
shifted  it.  Hullo  !  Treacle  !  I  told  the  Guv'nor 
I  was  wonderful  fond  o'  treacle.  'E  said  he  liked 
marmerlade  best.  But  I  'aven't  seen  no  marmer- 
lade.  That's  funny  1  Stay  a  bit.  There's  a  tin 
down  here  bigger'n  what  this  one  is.  Lend  us 
yer  knife  agin.  Hullo,  what  did  I  tell  yer? 
Marmerlade ! " 

As  this  was  getting  personal,  I  deemed  the 
moment  opportune  for  revealing  myself  as  awake, 
which  I  did  by  sitting  up  and  timidly  surveying 
the  still-heaving  sea. 

"  Bin  'aving  a  little  shut-eye,  ain't  yer  ? "  said 
my  skipper,  in  a  kindly  voice.  "  We've  opened  the 
case,"  he  added,  not  without  a  note  of  apology. 
"  It's  a  'andsome  lot  o'  wittles  and  no  mistake. 
But  I  don't  see  no  sugar,  nor  yet  tea." 

Feeling  a  better  sailor  for  my  sleep,  I  personally 
overhauled  the  stores,  and  found  that  the  skipper's 
misgivings  were  ill-founded.  But  one  item  of  the 
order  I  did  miss,  to  wit,  a  piece  of  bacon  destined 
for  breakfast  rashers,  and  I  chanced  to  mention 
the  circumstance. 

"  That's  all  right,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Rawson  heartily. 
"  I  told  him  to  boil  as  much  as  would  go  in  the 
saucepan,  and  put  the  rest  in  soak  to  get  the  salt 
out." 

"  Indeed.  And  now,  Mr.  Rawson " — for  I 
wished  to  change  the  subject — "  you  must  be 
tired  of  steering.  Suppose  you  give  the  tiller  to 
the  skipper." 


FIRST   DAY   AT   SEA  203 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Mr.  Rawson,  with  decision. 
"This  is  no  trouble  to  me.  If  he'll  just  look  after 
the  sails  when  I  tell  him,  we'll  manage  all  right." 

I  glanced  at  Gotty  and  Gotty  glanced  at  me. 
But  neither  of  us  spoke. 


XVII 

MATE  OR   MASTER? 

HAVING  gazed  from  afar  at  Walton-on-the-Naze 
and  Clacton,  we  glided  and  tossed  on  towards 
Harwich,  my  private  uneasiness  having  reached 
no  worse  phase  than  that  which  gave  me  a  lively 
preference  for  dry  biscuits  over  boiled  bacon. 

The  business  of  finding  a  berth  amid  the  varied 
shipping  in  the  river  Stour  was  one  in  which  the 
wind  and  the  minds  of  my  shipmates  acted  as 
three  independent  and  conflicting  forces. 

While  Mr.  Rawson  was  manoeuvring  the  helm 
with  the  intention  of  running  to  the  left  and 
berthing  beside  some  yachts  (of  whose  sprightly 
trim  he  had  already  expressed  warm  approval), 
Gotty's  supervision  of  the  sails  was  controlled  by  a 
desire  to  run  to  the  right  and  berth  with  other 
Leigh  bawleys  away  behind  the  coal  hulks.  This 
confusion  of  purpose,  on  becoming  manifest  to 
the  two  parties  concerned,  gave  occasion  to  a 
somewhat  heated  dialogue  in  which  the  dignity  of 
the  sensitive  skipper  rather  bruised  itself  against 
the  rock-like  will  of  the  good-tempered  mate. 
And  meanwhile  the  wind,  instead  of  temporarily 
ceasing  its  activity  to  give  time  for  human  agree- 


MATE   OR   MASTER?  205 

ment  on  the  question  at  issue,  continued  to  propel 
the  Betty  up  river  at  so  considerable  a  speed  that, 
as  each  disputant  made  haste  to  inform  the  other, 
the  opportunity  for  carrying  out  either  policy  had 
already  gone  by. 

"  Well,  we've  got  ter  do  somethin',  I  suppose  ! " 
shouted  Gotty,  in  perturbation  tinged  with  irony. 
"  Now  then — shall  I  drop  it  'ere  ?  Nothing  ain't 
amiss  with  this  ground,  is  there  1 " 

"All  right — let  go,"  assented  Mr.  Rawson 
stiffly.  "  We  can't  better  this  now.  She'll  lay  all 
right  here." 

Down,  accordingly,  went  the  anchor  ;  and  I 
may  say  that,  had  I  presumed  to  offer  my  lay 
opinion  on  the  point,  I  should  from  the  outset 
have  favoured  this  position,  for  here  we  were  in 
open  water,  and  well  removed  from  the  multitude 
of  vessels  that  lined  the  shore  on  both  sides 
of  us. 

All  the  canvas  was  lowered,  and  my  crew  had 
just  completed,  in  painful  silence,  the  task  of 
lashing  the  mainsail  to  the  spar,  when  we  espied  a 
boat,  which  contained  a  man  in  a  peaked  cap, 
rowing  vigorously  in  our  direction. 

No  sooner  had  Gotty  seen  the  small  craft  than 
he  turned  to  me,  and,  in  the  tone  of  a  man  who 
despaired  of  the  world  and  almost  all  its  in- 
habitants, exclaimed : 

"  Now  there's  somebody  else  not  satisfied, 
seemin'ly.  I  tell  yer,  it  don't  matter  what  yer  do, 
it's  shore  to  be  all  wrong  ter  some  one's  fancy. 
Now  I  wonder  what  this  pore  feller's  got  on  'is 


206     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

mind  ; "  and,  with  a  countenance  unsoftened  by 
any  sign  of  welcome,  he  set  himself  calmly  to 
await  the  visitor's  arrival. 

"  Now  then,"  came  a  gruff  voice  from  the 
rowing  boat,  as  it  drew  alongside,  "  you've  got  to 
clear  out  of  this." 

"  Oh ! "  replied  Gotty,  his  tone  conveying  a 
delicate  sense  of  amusement.  "  'Oo  says  so  ?  " 

"  The  harbour-master ! "  was  the  stranger's 
ruthless  retort ;  and,  like  a  policeman  dealing  with 
a  hansom  cab,  he  proceeded  very  deliberately (<to 
copy  our  number  into  a  pocket-book. 

"  We  ain't  interferin'  with  nobody  ! "  protested 
Gotty.  Then  raising  his  voice  in  argumentative 
expostulation  :  "  What  'arm  are  we  doin'  ?  " 

"  You  ought  to  know  better,"  observed  the 
official,  not  deigning  to  answer  this  further  ques- 
tion. "  Laying  right  in  the  fairway  like  this  !  " 

"  Well,  we  ain't  sech  a  big  wessel  that  we  take 
up  all  the  water,"  was  Gotty's  searching  comment. 

"  Come,  come,"  said  Mr.  Rawson,  waddling 
forward  with  importance.  "  Do  I  understand, 
sir " — with  a  courteous  inclination  towards  the 
official — "  that  the  harbour-master  objects  to  my 
berthing  here  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  representative  of  authority, 
whose  mollified  manner  testified  to  the  greater 
esteem  in  which  he  intuitively  held  the  elder  of 
my  companions.  "  You  see,  he's  very  particular 
to  keep  the  river  open  for  the  steamboats,  and  you 
are  lying  right  in  their  course.  In  case  you  don't 
know  the  new  rules,"  the  man  in  the  peak  cap 


MATE   OR   MASTER?  207 

graciously  added,  as  he  took  a  paper  from  his 
pocket,  "  I'd  better  give  you  a  copy." 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you,  sir,"  said  Mr. 
Rawson  cordially,  as  he  leaned  forward  to  accept 
the  leaflet;  "we  will  shift  our  anchorage  at  once." 

"  Yes,"  added  Gotty  cheerfully,  "  as  soon  as 
ever  I've  took  the  Guv'nor  ashore  we'll  drop  acrost 
to  them  old  bunkers." 

(I  privately  signified  to  him  that  I  was  in  no 
hurry.  "  H'sh,"  he  whispered,  with  a  confidential 
wink  ;  "  You  be  quiet.") 

"You've  got  to  move  at  once,"  the  official 
snapped.  "  Those  are  the  orders." 

"  So  we  will  move  at  wunst,"  retorted  Gotty 
hotly.  "  But  I  must  put  the  Guv'nor  ashore  fust, 
mustn't  I  ?  The  idea  ! "  And  having  bestowed  a 
frown  of  disapproval  on  the  official  (apparently  by 
way  of  signifying  that  he  was  surprised  at  him)  he 
set  about  drawing  our  dinghey  alongside. 

The  other  boat,  following  the  course  that  we 
must  take,  had  secured  some  yards  start  of  us. 
But  Gotty,  after  a  quick  look  over  his  shoulder  to 
measure  the  intervening  distance,  rolled  up  the 
sleeves  of  his  jersey  with  significant  deliberation, 
and  set  off  in  swift  pursuit,  with  the  view,  as  at 
first  I  supposed,  of  exchanging  further  speech  with 
his  adversary,  but,  as  it  proved,  merely  to  pass  the 
other  dinghey  in  cold  silence,  and  so  humiliate  its 
occupant  by  an  exhibition  of  superior  oarsmanship. 

It  behoved  that  Gotty  should  return  with  all 
reasonable  despatch  to  the  Betty,  and  thus  oppor- 
tunity served  for  but  briefest  mention  of  a  matter 


208     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

on  which,  it  seemed,  he  was  no  less  anxious  to 
talk  with  me  than  I  to  talk  with  him. 

"The  old  feller  is  agoin'  it — no  mistake," 
observed  my  companion  ere  we  parted  at  the 
stairs.  "  I  ain't  nobody,  you  ain't  nobody,  and 
'e's  everybody.  There  you  are  !  Ercourse  we 
know  'e's  come  ter  do  us  good,  and  where  we're 
goin'  'e's  acquainted  with,  and  we  was  never  there 
afore  ;  so  I  don't  take  no  notice,  nor  no  offence, 
'im  bein'  a  ole  man  and  all.  But  'e  didn't  ought 
ter  carry  on  so  masterful,  nor  yet  make  'isself  so 
busy." 

"  No,"  I  heartily  agreed,  "  that  will  have  to  be 
stopped.  But  you  get  back  now,  or  there'll  be 
trouble  with  the  harbour-master." 

I  told  him  I  should  probably  return  that  night, 
which  seemed  a  reasonable  conjecture  ;  but  I 
calculated  without  a  knowledge  of  the  sportive 
spirit  in  which  the  people  of  those  parts  have 
settled  their  topographical  nomenclature. 

Having  journeyed  across  the  confluence  of  the 
rivers  Stour  and  Orwell  (and,  let  me  parenthe- 
tically observe,  I  was  relieved  by  a  view  the  little 
steamer  afforded  of  our  bawley  sheering  to  a  new 
anchorage),  I  looked  in  vain  for  the  house-boats 
and  boat-houses  with  which,  as  was  known  to  me, 
my  holiday  party  were  associated.  I  had  come  to 
the  Felixstowe  shore  and  I  had  come  by  the  ferry, 
yet  I  certainly  had  not  come  to  Felixstoweferry. 
On  that  point  all  the  people  I  consulted  were 
agreed.  What  was  even  more  bewildering,  none 
knew  in  which  direction  Felixstoweferry  lay, 


MATE   OR   MASTER?  209 

some  being  indeed  sceptical  as  to  the  existence 
of  a  place  so  named.  One  old  gentleman  went 
out  of  his  way  to  explain  that,  although  most 
persons  spoke  of  it  as  Felixstowe,  the  locality  in 
which  we  stood  was,  strictly  speaking,  Walton, 
which  was  the  easier  to  remember,  as  there  was 
another  place  of  the  same  name  a  few  miles  to  the 
south. 

Ultimately  I  found  a  singularly  well-informed 
railway  official,  who  pointed  out  that  Felixstowe- 
ferry  was  not  in  Felixstowe  at  all,  but  at  Bawdsey 
Haven,  a  few  miles  to  the  north.  As  to  how  to 
get  there,  he  advised  taking  the  train  as  far  as  it 
would  go,  and  then  asking  again. 

Acting  dubiously  on  this  counsel,  I,  in  due 
course,  alighted  at  the  railway  terminus,  where  it 
was  my  good  fortune  to  fall  in  with  a  flyman 
who,  though  the  name  "  Felixstoweferry "  was 
fresh  to  him,  was  full  of  knowledge  concerning 
"the"  Ferry  at  Woodbridge  Haven  (which,  by- 
the-bye,  as  he  was  careful  to  explain,  was  several 
miles  from  Woodbridge)  ;  and  he  betrayed  an 
alert  disposition  to  drive  me  thither.  True,  we 
joined  issue  as  to  what  would  be  an  appropriate 
payment  for  the  service  ;  but,  that  hitch  being 
smoothed  away,  he  conveyed  me,  through  wind- 
ing country  roads  and  a  sandy  causeway  by  the 
sea,  to  the  floating  pleasure  parties  into  whose 
midst  I  proposed  to  project  myself. 

I  hope  it  may  be  the  good  fortune  of  these 
pages  to  meet  the  eyes  of  that  flyman,  and  of  the 
persons  I  consulted  at  the  ferry  pier  on  the  shore 

O 


210     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

that  is  opposite  Harwich  ;  for  I  desire  to  inform 
them  that,  at  seven  o'clock,  I  was  telegraphing 
from  a  picturesque  building,  situated  within  a 
stone's-throw  of  where  the  fly  had  set  me  down, 
and  over  the  door  of  which,  painted  in  bold 
letters,  was  the  inscription,  "  Felixstoweferry 
Post-office." 

That  telegram  was  addressed,  "  Fishing  boat 
Betty  L.O.  96,  Harwich  Harbour,"  and  ran  as 
follows :  "  Please  trawl  off  Harwich  to-morrow 
morning  and  come  in  with  catch  to  Woodbridge 
Haven  ; "  and  when  the  next  day's  sunlight  was 
fading,  and  still  in  vain  I  watched  the  shimmering 
waters  of  that  peaceful  inlet,  I  arrived  at  the  frame 
of  mind  inevitable  to  one  who  has  promised  his 
friends  a  box  of  fresh  food  fish  and  finds  himself 
without  opportunity  to  receive  their  thanks. 

At  eight  o'clock  I  set  out  on  foot  to  re-discover 
my  railway  terminus,  and  arrived  at  the  distant 
ferry  pier  two  hours  later.  The  steamboat  had 
ceased  running,  but  I  found  a  waterman  to  row 
me  over. 

Identifying  my  property  among  the  flotilla  of 
fishermen's  dingheys  clustered  about  the  stairs,  I 
waited  until,  some  half-hour  later,  Gotty  strode 
upon  the  scene.  My  first  words,  demanding  an 
explanation,  collided  with  his  first  words,  offering 
one. 

"The  young  feller  didn't  bring  it  aboard  not 
afore  this  mornin',  and  'e  said  it  come  last  night, 
only  they  didn't  know  where  she  was  layin',  and 
there  was  ninepence  ter  pay  !  Couldn't  'ave  give 


MATE   OR    MASTER?  211 

theirselves  the  trouble  to  arsk,  seemin'ly,  fer  I  was 
agin  'ere  till  past  twelve  o'clock,  up  and  down, 
back'ards  and  for'ards,  not  knowin'  when  you 
mightn't  come,  you  'avin'  said  you'd  most  likely 
be  back  larst  night." 

I  hastened  to  apologetically  commiserate  with 
this  victim  of  post-office  remissness  ;  but  none 
the  less  I  desired  to  be  informed  why,  when  the 
telegram  did  come  to  hand,  there  had  been  so 
complete  a  failure  to  realise  the  desire  therein 
expressed. 

"  Well,  jest  see  'ow  it's  bin  blowin'  !  "  protested 
Gotty,  and  peradventure  a  landsman  must  neces- 
sarily have  accepted  this  explanation  had  it  not 
been  undermined  by  a  supplementary  one,  put 
forward  with  the  opposite  intention  :  "  The  other 
boats  'ad  bin  gorn  four  howers  afore  we  got  the 
telergram." 

This  served  to  remind  me  that,  while  exploring 
the  shingly  slopes  of  Woodbridge  Haven  during 
the  early  afternoon,  I  had  descried  a  bawley 
trawling  in  the  blue  distance,  and  indeed  had 
pointed  her  out  to  my  admiring  friends  as  un- 
mistakably the  L.O.  96,  busy  over  their  to- 
morrow's breakfast. 

I  desired  Gotty,  in  such  language  as  seemed 
appropriate  at  the  moment,  to  tell  me  how  it  came 
about  that,  while  one  boat  was  held  in  harbour  by 
the  wind,  identical  craft  were  riding  the  high  seas 
in  pursuit  of  the  purpose  for  which  they  existed ; 
and  I  furthermore  requested  his  attention  to  this 
additional  point,  namely,  was  not  the  Betty  capable 


212     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

of  sailing  a  few  miles,  and  catching  a  few  fish, 
without  the  escort,  support,  and  countenance  of 
an  entire  fishing  fleet  ? 

A  human  note  entered  into  the  voluble  and 
perturbed  explanations  that  these  inquiries  called 
forth  : 

"  I  told  'im  so  !  I  told  'im  we  oughter  go, 
seein'  you'd  sent  the  telergram  on  purpose  and 
very  likely  told  your  friends  we'd  be  bringin'  'em 
a  mess  of  fish  and  all.  But  'e  said  no — it  was 
too  late  ter  start  now,  and  when  'e  was  on  the 
Belly  can  'e  always  got  'is  orders  the  night  afore. 
It's  everlastin'  about  the  Bellycan,  and  what  they 
'ad  to  eat,  and  'ow  wonderful  clever  'e  was  at 
racin'  quicker  than  what  anybody  else  could. 
Only  I  told  'im,  I  says,  '  Mr.  Rawson,  you  mustn't 
think  this  'ere  bawley's  a  yacht,'  I  says,  '  fer  she 
ain't.  The  Guv'nor's  come  out  ter  see  a  bit  of 
fishin','  I  says,  '  and  'e'll  think  it  wery  strange,' 
I  says,  '  if  we  can't  get  'im  a  pair  of  soles  and  one 
or  two  plaice,  and  p'raps  a  roker,'  I  says,  '  'ter  give 
to  'is  friends.'  But  the  old  feller's  that  obstinate, 
'e  won't  never  allow  'isself  to  be  told  by  them  as 
knows  best.  Another  thing,  with  the  weather  so 
blowy,  'e  says,  there  wouldn't  be  no  charnse  o' 
gettin'  into  that  'aven  what  you  spoke  about  ;  and 
that's  where  I  'ad  ter  let  'im  know  best,  fer  I  never 
was  there  myself." 

"  Now  look  here,  Gotty,"  I  said.  "  This  sort  of 
thing  has  gone  far  enough.  You  are  the  skipper, 
and  you  must  not  be  overruled  by  Mr.  Rawson. 
You  must  be  gentle  but  firm,  and  make  him  see 


MATE   OR   MASTER?  213 

that  the  decision  in  these  matters  rests  with 
you." 

"  Ercourse  I'm  the  skipper  !  "  cried  Gotty,  with 
a  sudden  access  of  dignity  rather  suggesting  that 
he  had  been  overlooking  the  fact  himself.  "  But 
why,"  he  asked  indignantly,  "  can't  'e  see  that,  and 
treat  me  accordin'  ?  It  ain't  my  place  ter  be 
always  for'ard.  The  idea  !  And  'im  sayin'  this 
must  be  this,  and  that  must  be  that,  and  me  not 
allowed  a  word  in  anythin'.  I  never  'card  of  sech 
a  thing  !  " 

"  Well,  you  must  assert  your  authority  more  !" 

"  'Ow  can  I,"  he  replied,  in  the  raised  voice  of 
wrath,  "  when  'e  don't  let  me  ?  You  wouldn't 
'ave  me  catch  'im  a  clout  acrost  the  'ead,  would 
yer  ?  Him  an  ole  man  gettin'  on  fer  seventy  !  " 

And,  his  lawless  imagination  having  tentatively 
fastened  upon  me  the  responsibility  for  this 
aspiration,  his  looks  clearly  showed  that  he  was 
scandalised  and  repelled  by  my  inhumanity. 

"  No,  no  !  Certainly  not  !  What  I  mean  is 
this — when  necessary,  quietly  show  him  that  you 
are  the  master." 

"  Now,  didn't  you  tell  me  most  partic'lar," 
Gotty  replied,  in  a  tone  of  frank  expostulation, 
"  that  I  was  ter  give  way  to  'im,  and  arsk  'is 
advice,  and  make  'im  feel  comfertible,  and " — 
for  a  retentive  memory  was  busy  recalling  all  the 
scattered  scraps  of  counsel  which,  in  my  first  joy 
at  securing  the  elderly  mariner's  co-operation,  I 
had  imparted — "  and  see  'e  didn't  want  fer  wittles, 
and  never  ter  call  'im  Ole  Treacle  Tart  ?  Didn't 


2i4     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

you  say,"  continued  the  accuser,  "  that  you'd 
found  a  better  mate  than  what  all  the  other  ones 
was  put  tergether,  and  you  didn't  know  'ow  we 
could  get  where  we  was  goin'  if  we  'adn't  got  'im  ? 
And  now,  when  I've  done  all  that,"  he  added, 
getting  a  trifle  entangled  in  his  own  eloquence, 
though  I  could  pretend  to  no  uncertainty  concern- 
ing the  barbed-wire  line  of  his  argument,  "  it's  all 
wrong,  seemin'ly,  and  I  oughter  do  somethin' 
dif'rent.  There  ain't  no  pleasin'  nobody  !  " 

Though  to  be  thus  ruthlessly  trailed  along  the 
path  of  my  miscalculations  made  me  a  fitting 
object  for  all  the  sympathy  I  had  at  disposal,  a 
tribute  of  pity  was  nevertheless  compelled  on 
observing  that,  having  scaled  this  height  of  bitter 
pessimism,  the  commander  of  my  fishing  smack 
was  panting  and  perspiring  with  feeling. 

So,  obeying  the  impulse  of  a  contrite  heart,  I 
pleaded  guilty  to  each  sharp  count  in  the  indict- 
ment, and  then  besought  my  companion  to  lay 
aside  any  ill-judged  suggestions  I  might  have  let 
fall  in  hours  gone  by,  and  so  smooth  the  way  for 
our  two  heads  to  jointly  consider  what,  in  the 
difficult  situation  that  had  arisen,  was  best  to 
be  done. 

Mollified  by  my  more  reasonable  attitude,  he 
conceded  a  fuller  measure  of  sociability  ;  and  we 
proceeded  with  dispassionate  affability  to  discuss 
the  complex  psychological  problem  presented  by 
the  presence  of  self-willed,  elderly,  and  good- 
tempered  Mr.  Rawson.  Nor  was  it  long  before 
we  were  agreed  that,  following  a  little  show  of 


MATE   OR   MASTER?  215 

quiet  firmness  on  the  part  of  the  skipper,  fortified 
by  the  moral  support  of  the  owner's  authority, 
our  shipmate  would  readily  subside  into  his 
subordinate  position,  and  thenceforth  restrict  his 
initiative  within  the  limits  we  were  anxious  to 
impose  on  its  exercise. 

This  conversation,  continued  as  Gotty  rowed  me 
to  the  Bettys  new  anchorage,  brought  one  piece  of 
new  knowledge  to  my  astonished  mind.  We  had 
agreed  as  to  the  old  fellow's  good-hearted  and 
urbane  qualities,  and  I  chanced  to  say : 

"  I  was  very  pleased  with  his  thoughtfulness  in 
proposing  that  I  should  come  here  to  see  my 
daughter  and  friends." 

"  Oo  did  ? "  Gotty  stopped  rowing  to  in- 
coherently inquire. 

"  Of  course,"  I  hastily  added,  "  I  must  thank 
you,  too,  for  he  wouldn't  have  known  they  were 
here  if  you  hadn't  told  him." 

"  I  never  told  'im  nothin'  o'  the  sort ! "  was  the 
bewildered  and  bewildering  comment. 

"  You  must  have !  How  could  he  have 
known  ?  " 

"  No  more  'e  didn't  know  !  Me  tell  'im  !  Me  ! 
Don't  yer  think  I  know  better  than  go  and  tittle- 
tattle  about  your  private  consarns  what  you  may 
see  fit  ter  tell  me  ?  You  ain't  shorely  got  so  bad 
an  erpinion  o'  me  as  all  that  !  " 

"  But  how  in  the  world  did  he  know,  then  ?  " 

"  'E  didn't  know,  don't  I  tell  yer — not  afore 
you  told  'im  yerself.  Why  now ! " — a  memory 
illuminating  his  mind  with  its  retrospective  sig- 


216     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

nificance — "  I  thought  it  was  a  funny  thing  the 
quick  way  you  took  'im  up  ;  'im  and  me  'aving 
jest  bin  talkin',  and  I  says  to  'im  (fer  I  didn't  'ave 
no  thought  of  your  people  bein'  'ere  and  you 
might  want  ter  come  and  see  'em),  '  Mr.  Rawson,' 
I  says,  <  we  didn't  oughter  go  to  'Arwich,  seein' 
the  Guv'nor  ain't  told  us  to  ! '  But  'e  said  you 
wouldn't  make  no  bother  where  we  went  ;  and  'e 
was  that  set  on  it  along  o'  'is  two  nephews  living 
'ere,  what  'e  wanted  ter  see,  and  'is  ole  friend 
Golesmith.  But  I  was  tellin'  'im  you'd  think  it 
strange  of  us  to  'ave  our  own  fancy  to  go  'ere  and 
go  there  ;  and  then  you  come  along,  and  at  the 
fust  word  there  you  was  all  fer  goin'  ;  so  I  kep' 
my  mouth  shut  arter  that." 

And  thus  I  was  made  acquainted  with  a  strange 
coincidence,  and  one  counting  heavily  for  dis- 
illusionment. 

Yet  if  this  discovery  served  in  a  notable  degree 
to  ripen  my  knowledge  of  Mr.  Rawson,  that  pro- 
cess was  destined  to  receive  an  even  more  potent 
stimulus  ere  we  had  been  two  minutes  on  board 
the  Betty. 

11  'E's  turned  in  and  snorin'  fit  ter  wake  the 
dead,"  testified  Gotty,  on  returning  from  a  visit  to 
the  cabin  ;  "  and  'e's  bin  and  gorn  and  wrapped 
'isself  up  in  your  two  overcoats  and  one  o'  your 
blankits  !  " 


XVIII 

TWO  NIGHTS  IN  A  HAMMOCK 

NEXT  morning  I  was  fain  to  admit  that  my  first 
night  in  a  hammock  had  not  been  an  experience 
of  unalloyed  pleasure — a  circumstance  for  which 
the  inadequacy  of  my  coverings  was  only  partly 
accountable.  A  factor  making  even  more  powerfully 
for  discomfort  was  the  lop-sided  fashion  in  which, 
by  reason  of  our  inept  manipulation  of  improvised 
lashings,  the  canvas  receptacle  had  persisted  in 
hanging.  In  nautical  language,  the  thing  had  an 
ugly  list  to  starboard,  so  that  had  I  not  introduced 
much  discretion  into  the  disposal  of  my  limbs  I 
must  needs  have  rolled  out  on  to  the  floor  below. 

For  the  rest,  it  had  been  wholly  congenial  to 
lie  beneath  an  unscreened  canopy  of  stars  ;  for  I 
had  insisted  upon  the  dubious  Gotty  slinging  my 
hammock  across  the  hold  opening,  correctly 
assuming  that  the  combings  would  afford  adequate 
shelter  against  chilly  breezes. 

"  Now  do  'ave  my  bunk  ternight,"  the  generous 
skipper  (reverting  to  an  offer  he  had  vainly  made 
overnight)  interrupted  my  morning  toilet  to  urge. 
"  I  can  easy  sleep  on  the  floor,  without  takin'  no 
'urt,  and  you'd  be  more  warm  and  comfertable." 


2i 8     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

Having  assured  him  that,  when  we  had  made 
the  readjustment  of  cords  necessary  to  secure  an 
even  balance,  my  easy  repose  would  be  assured,  I 
asked : 

"How  did  you  sleep?" — a  point,  indeed,  on 
which  I  had  misgivings. 

"  I  did  lay  a  bit  'ard,"  he  confessed,  raising  a 
sympathetic  left  hand  to  gently  rub  the  extremity 
of  his  right  shoulder  ;  "  but  I  was  warm  enough 
arter  I  fetched  the  old  jib  to  lay  over  me  ;"  and  I 
mentally  marked  down  cabin  beds  and  bedding  as 
among  the  articles  to  be  purchased  at  the  earliest 
convenient  opportunity. 

Over  a  sturdy  breakfast  of  fried  eggs  and 
cheese  (for  which  the  night  air  of  Harwich  had 
armed  me  with  a  zest)  I  met  Mr.  Rawson,  who 
had  awakened  to  the  world's  affairs  with  a  com- 
posed conscience  and  the  fresh,  shiny  complexion 
of  one  who  has  slept  long  and  soundly. 

Before  the  meal  was  over,  I  had  committed  a 
grievous  error  in  tactics. 

"Well,"  I  remarked  in  a  tone  studiously  casual, 
"we'll  sail  round  to  Woodbridge  Haven  this 
morning." 

"  Right  you  are ! "  Gotty  postponed  a  gulp  of 
coffee  to  instantly  observe. 

"  Begging  your  pardon,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Rawson, 
with  a  shade  of  severity  on  his  amiable  face,  "  but 
you  are  forgetting  to-day  is  Sunday." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  I  had  not  lost  touch  with 
the  calendar  to  that  extent,  but  I  had  been  placing 
one  method  of  travel  in  a  category  with  others. 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   A   HAMMOCK     219 

Obviously,  however,  on  such  a  point,  free  latitude 
must  be  allowed  to  the  opinion  of  others. 

"  If  you  would  rather  not  sail  on  Sunday,  Mr. 
Rawson,  of  course  that  settles  it." 

"  I  should  most  certainly  object,"  he  replied — 
"  in  fact,  I  could  not  consent  to  such  a  thing. 
We  have  all  the  week  for  getting  about  in  ;  there 
can't  be  any  need  to  work  on  Sunday.  No,  I 
intend  to  spend  the  day  quietly,  reading  the 
newspaper,  and  then  this  evening  I  dare  say  I  shall 
go  to  church.  Unless,"  he  added  thoughtfully, 
"  I  might  drop  in  to  the  Duke's  Head  to  pass  an 
hour  or  two  with  my  friend  Goldsmith " — a 
revelation  of  broad-minded  impartiality  concern- 
ing occupation  for  a  Sabbath  evening  which  at 
least  placed  the  old  fellow  remote  from  any 
suspicion  of  hypocrisy. 

"  Very  well,"  I  said,  "  we  will  go  to  Wood- 
bridge  Haven  to-morrow,  after  catching  some  fish 
to  take  to  my  friends." 

"  Wind  and  weather  permitting,"  supplemented 
Mr.  Rawson,  in  the  mellow  voice  of  philosophy. 
" '  We  will,'  as  I  used  to  say  to  my  gentleman, 
'  if  we  can.'  But  we  none  of  us  ever  know,  do 
we,  sir,  what  the  morrow  may  bring  forth  ?  " 

Not  feeling  called  upon,  or  indeed  qualified,  to 
dispute  this  axiom,  I  contented  myself  with  a 
general  statement,  uttered  in  a  voice  of  some  con- 
fidence, that  I  dared  say  the  weather  would  be  all 
right. 

"  It  looks  reg'lar  set  in  fer  fair,  don't  it  ?"  was 
Gotty's  cheerful  interjection. 


220    GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  You  never  know ! "  observed  Mr.  Rawson. 
"  I  well  remember — "  ;  and  before  the  skipper 
and  I  knew  where  we  were,  so  to  speak,  we  were 
involved  in  further  reminiscences  of  a  vessel  whose 
equipment  and  exploits  had  no  power  to  excite 
our  enthusiasm. 

That  afternoon  yielded  me  a  pleasant  walk  to 
Dovercourt  with  Gotty,  and,  as  far  as  our  shipmate 
was  concerned,  evening  brought  us  the  knowledge 
that,  in  the  strange  competition  of  choice  which 
held  his  mind  in  so  delicate  a  balance,  the  Duke's 
Head  had  won. 

An  adjustment  of  hammock  lashings,  and  the 
utilisation  of  warm  clothing  taken  from  my  trunk, 
gave  me  the  promise  of  a  night  of  more  com- 
fortable suspension,  though  the  realisation  of  my 
early  hopes  was  cruelly  prevented  by  the  untoward 
putting  of  a  foot  through  a  decayed  portion  of  the 
canvas  ;  which  resulting  aperture  so  speedily  re- 
solved itself  into  a  perilous  slit,  that  I  made  haste 
to  transfer  my  weight  to  a  situation  less  soft,  but 
more  secure,  on  the  flooring. 

Next  day  proving  all  it  should  be,  my  com- 
panions had  anchor  and  sails  up  ere  I  concluded 
my  interrupted  slumbers,  and  in  a  little  while — 
with  Mr.  Rawson  again  on  fixed-point  duty  at  the 
helm — -the  Betty  rocked  forward  over  smooth  and 
slumbrous  waves,  with  her  trawl  collecting  samples 
of  creatures  that  live  in  the  sea*. 

A  first  haul  placed  us  in  possession  of  a  pretty 
plateful  of  soles,  slips,  and  plaice,  with  a  young 
conger  thrown  in  to  give  variety  ;  and,  although 


222     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

Mr.  Rawson  viewed  the  proceeding  with  manifest 
disfavour,  the  skipper  returned  our  gear  to  the 
deep,  that  Providence  might  have  an  opportunity 
for  further  favours. 

This  second  haul,  when  the  time  came  for 
turning  the  windlass,  proved  to  contain  an  item 
which  set  all  our  hearts  a-quake. 

"  Heavins !  Ain't  it  a  weight ! "  perspiring 
Gotty  had  exclaimed,  while  exerting  the  lion's 
share  of  the  effort  involved.  "  It's  never  all 
fish,  shorely  ?  No  1 "  he  quickly  added,  "  I  can 
see  it  ain't.  Ps'ch  ! " — in  token  of  deep  offence 
to  his  nostrils. 

Peering  over  the  side  with  a  cautious  curiosity, 
I  drew  back  on  catching  sight  (with  appeal  to 
another  sense)  of  the  bulging  extremity  of  a 
bulky  shape  encased  in  canvas. 

Mr.  Rawson  also  looked,  and  saw,  and  drew 
back. 

From  that  moment  we  were  three  men  with 
grave  faces,  speaking  seldom,  briefly,  and  in 
voices  barely  above  a  whisper. 

At  first  I  was  thinking  of  the  option  that  still 
was  ours — to  unloosen  the  end  of  the  trawl  and 
so  return  that  dark  object  to  the  sea,  our  minds 
innocent  of  prying,  the  sack  still  holding  its  secret. 
I  wondered  what  was  the  course  of  custom. 

"The  tackle?"  asked  Gotty,  and  Mr.  Rawson 
assented  with  a  nod.  A  pulley  in  the  rigging  was 
then  utilised  to  assist  in  hauling  the  trawl-end, 
with  its  repellent  burden,  to  the  deck. 

We    all    gathered    to   windward    of   the    thing, 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   A   HAMMOCK     223 

which  exuded  black  water.  Gotty  drew  a  big 
clasp  knife  from  his  trouser  pocket,  and  cut  the 
lashings  at  the  head  of  the  sacking. 

We  looked  upon  a  dark,  compact  mass  of 
something  for  which  we  had  no  name.  The 
skipper  cautiously  removed  a  handful,  which, 
having  subjected  it  to  a  close  scrutiny,  he  threw 
into  the  sea.  Then  he  took  out  another  handful 
and  threw  that  also  into  the  sea.  Silently  con- 
tinuing this  process,  he  was  presently  digging  into 
the  mystery  with  both  hands,  finally  groping 
elbow-deep  to  the  bottom  of  the  sack. 

I  had  watched  with  growing  relief,  and  the 
tension  was  ended,  and  our  mistaken  melancholy 
banished,  when  the  investigator  put  his  thoughts 
into  speech. 

"  It  ain't  nothin'  only  the  sweepin's  out  of  a 
steamer — cinders  and  soot  and  sech-like — put  in  a 
ole  sack  ter  be  out  o'  the  way,  and  then  thrown 
overboard,  most  likely  arter  they  come  out  of 
'arbour.  But  don't  it  reg'lar  'oiler?  That's 
often  the  way  when  anything's  laid  under  the 
mud  at  the  bottom.  Comin'  up  inter  the  fresh 
air  fetches  out  all  the  smell.  Ps'ch  ! " — and  he 
lifted  the  half-emptied  sack  in  strong  hands,  and 
tumbled  it  over  into  the  water. 

The  legitimate  captures,  which  had  been  flopping 
unheeded  among  the  seaweed  and  crabs,  now 
received  the  skipper's  attention,  gasping  juveniles 
being  restored  to  their  element,  and  indignant 
adults  added  to  those  which  had  earlier  come  to 
hand. 


224     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

Our  prow  was  pointing  to  that  part  of  the  land 
which  coastguard  houses  and  a  flagstaff  identified 
as  Woodbridge  Haven.  I  imparted  to  Mr.  Rawson 
such  particulars  of  the  entrance  as,  on  my  recent 
visit  to  the  place,  I  had  been  able  to  glean.  The 
inlet,  I  explained,  was  narrow  and  shallow ;  and 
my  attempt  to  describe  the  course  of  the  channel 
was  buttressed  by  a  suggestion  that  it  would  be 
wise  to  employ  a  local  pilot.  But  the  desire  to  be 
useful  missed  its  gratification.  Ripe  nautical 
experience  bent  a  polite  but  deaf  ear  to  these 
counsels  of  the  landsman. 

"  I  dare  say,  sir,  we'll  manage  all  right,"  was  Mr. 
Rawson's  cheerful  but  only  comment,  which  he 
accompanied  by  a  quite  superfluous  smile  of 
indulgent  toleration  ;  so  that  I  was  sorry,  as  the 
saying  is,  that  I  had  spoken. 

Nor  could  I  thereafter  sit  apart  in  dignified 
silence,  nursing  a  secret  hope  that  he  would 
steer  the  Betty  to  destruction  amid  the  perils  of 
which  he  would  not  allow  me  to  warn  him  ;  for, 
as  sole  owner  of  the  uninsured  craft  in  question,  I 
could  find  no  spiteful  solace  in  that  thought. 

As  we  sped  on  towards  an  ominous  line  of 
broken  water,  Gotty  sighted  a  buoy,  and  straight- 
way my  experts  were  at  loggerheads  as  to  what 
might  be  its  precise  significance. 

Still  on  we  went  ;  and  now  a  rowing  boat  was 
visible,  newly  come  out  from  the  harbour — 
which  circumstance  I  noted  with  the  greater 
satisfaction  as  it  promised  confirmation  under  one 
head  of  my  unheeded  counsels, 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   A   HAMMOCK     225 

"That'd  be  one  of  them  pilots  what  you  spoke 
of ! "  exclaimed  Gotty,  who,  at  the  time  I 
mentioned  the  matter,  had  given  no  sign  of 
attention. 

"  No  doubt,"  I  said  briefly. 

Mr.  Rawson,  with  a  composed  and  genial 
countenance,  ignored  the  little  boat. 

It  drew  nearer.  That  we  were  the  target 
for  which  its  occupant  was  steering  could 
no  longer  be  doubted.  Presently  he  was  hail- 
ing us. 

It  was  left  to  Mr.  Rawson  to  reply,  and  his 
request  to  know  the  stranger's  business  drew 
from  the  pilot  an  offer  to  take  us  into  the  haven, 
if  it  were  our  wish  to  go  there.  Still  the  initiative 
was  left  to  Mr.  Rawson. 

"  Well,  sir,"  he  asked,  with  sprightly  indifference, 
"  shall  we  get  him  to  take  us  in  ?  " 

"  Do  we  need  a  pilot  ?  "  I  asked  coldly. 

"That,  sir,"  he  beamingly  made  answer,  "is  for 
you  to  say." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  I  had  a  very  definite  pre- 
ference in  the  matter,  for,  little  as  I  might  desire 
to  be  shipwrecked  anywhere,  I  was  eagerly  hostile 
to  the  idea  of  such  disaster  happening  under  my 
daughters  eyes. 

"  I  wonder  how  much  he  would  charge,"  was 
my  thrifty  comment. 

Raising  his  voice,  the  old  mate  bluntly  asked 
the  question,  and  the  man  in  the  boat  mentioned 
a  fee  of  five  shillings. 

Not  knowing  if  piloting  were  one  of  the  pro- 

P 


226     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

fessions  in  which  timely  demur  of  the  patron 
induces  graceful  concession  by  the  artist,  I  was 
guilty  of  the  suggestion  that  we  should  offer  him 
three  and  sixpence. 

Mr.  Rawson  did  so,  and  it  was  as  though  the 
words  had  exercised  a  magnetic  control  over  the 
tiller  of  the  pilot-boat,  for  she  altered  her  course, 
and  was  now  returning  whence  she  had  come.  I 
hastily  gave  Mr.  Rawson  other  words  wherewith 
to  reverse  the  current. 

"  All  right !  Five  shillings  then  !  "  promptly 
restored  the  dinghey's  course  to  one  which,  a 
minute  later,  gave  us  the  company  of  the  stranger 
— a  tall,  broad  fellow  in  a  brown  wide-awake — 
on  board  the  Betty. 

Mr.  Rawson — and  this  is,  in  fact,  the  point 
to  which  I  have  been  leading  up — still  held  the 
tiller. 

"  Here  ! "  said  the  pilot,  touching  him  lightly 
on  the  shoulder,  and  preparing  to  succeed  to  the 
helm,  «  I'll  take  that." 

"  No,  you  won't,"  replied  Mr.  Rawson,  refusing 
to  budge. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  persisted  the  other  impatiently. 
"  I  must  come  there." 

We  were  racing  on,  and,  just  ahead,  the  sea 
was  rolling  over  the  bar  in  snowy  billows. 

"  I  tell  you,  I  know  my  place,"  protested  the 
old  mate.  "  I've  had  a  pilot  on  board  before 
to-day.  You  show  the  way  ;  I'll  keep  the 
wood." 

I   knew  that  Mr.  Rawson's  will  was  of  tolerably 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   A   HAMMOCK     227 

tough  texture,  but  this  standing  on  a  point  of 
etiquette  amid  the  very  breakers  improved  my 
knowledge  in  that  direction. 

Gotty  stood  regarding  his  nominal  subordinate 
with  the  dropped  jaw  of  keen  disfavour. 

The  pilot,  directing  a  swift  look  ahead,  sur- 
rendered. 

"  All  right ! "  he  assented  between  clenched 
teeth.  "  But  be  careful  you  do  what  I  tell 
you.  .  .  .  Ease  her  ! " 

Next  minute,  the  direction  having  been  ignored, 
he  was  shouting  with  wrathful  urgency :  "  Ease 
her  !  Ease  her,  you  old  fool ! " 

"What !  "  cried  Mr.  Rawson,  anxiously  pointing 
to  where  the  waves  lashed  one  another  into  spray. 
"Take  her  through  that?" 

It  certainly  looked  the  worst  of  the  water. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  stormed  the  man  who  knew.  "  I 
know  what  I'm  doing." 

"  Oh,  very  well ! "  Mr.  Rawson  huffily  replied, 
with  the  air  of  a  man  who  washes  his  hands  of 
responsibility ;  and  he  made  the  tiller  adjustment 
which  carried  us,  pitching  and  tossing,  through 
the  watery  tumult. 

Almost  from  second  to  second  the  pilot  rapped 
out  other  instructions,  which  met  with  no  further 
opposition  from  the  helmsman,  and  a  minute  later 
our  devious  course  had  carried  us  into  the  narrow, 
sheltered  waters  of  the  haven,  where,  within  hail 
of  my  friends'  boat-house  and  house-boats,  we 
dropped  anchor. 

There  we  remained  for  a  week.     All  that  while 


228     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

the  wind  persisted  in  coming  from  the  south. 
Mr.  Rawson  smiled  upon  my  impatient  wish  to 
defy  its  opposition.  Nor  could  I  defy  his.  For 
Gotty  agreed  that  a  northerly  element  in  the  wind 
was  essential  to  our  further  progress. 


XIX 

THE   BATTLE   OF    FOLKESTONE 

EARLY  one  morning  we  set  sail  from  Woodbridge 
Haven  ;  yet  not  so  early  but  I  had  found  oppor- 
tunity to  slip  ashore  for  a  private  word  with  the 
pilot.  Thus  was  I  able,  on  his  high  authority,  to 
inform  my  shipmates  that,  with  the  wind  as  it  was, 
we  could  easily  bang  our  way  before  nightfall  to 
Folkestone,  which  I  had  previously  mentioned  to 
the  skipper  as,  probably,  our  next  destination. 

"  Now  look  here,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Rawson,  with 
his  indulgent  smile,  "  if  you'll  just  be  advised  by 
me,  we  certainly  won't  go  to  Folkestone.  Any- 
where else  you  might  have  a  fancy  to  call  at,  I'll 
be  only  too  pleased  to  try  and  meet  your  wishes  ; 
but  Folkestone  harbour  is  dry  at  low  water,  so  it 
would  never  do  for  us.  When  I  had  charge  of 
the  Pelican,  sir,  that  was  a  place  we  were  always 
careful  to  avoid." 

Sooner  or  later  a  battle  with  the  self-willed  old 
man  was  inevitable,  and  I  could  hope  for  no  more 
favourable  issue  than  one  concerning  a  port  with 
which  I  happened  to  be  well  acquainted.  In  any 
case  (for  I  am  a  human  being)  his  last  argument 
must  needs  have  goaded  me  to  war. 

239 


230     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  You  will  seldom  see  less  than  fifty  fishing 
boats  at  Folkestone,"  I  said.  "  If  they  can  use 
the  harbour,  I  suppose  we  can.  I  am  going  to 
Folkestone  to  see  some  friends,  and  call  for 
letters." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Mr.  Rawson,  in  his  most 
winning  manner,  "  but  you  don't  quite  understand. 
The  Folkestone  boats  are  fitted  with  supports — 
legs,  we  call  them — to  keep  them  upright  when 
the  tide  is  out.  We  have  no  legs,  and  that  makes 
all  the  difference.  As  for  seeing  your  friends  and 
getting  your  letters,  that  will  be  quite  easy.  We'll 
go  to  Dover,  where  there's  a  splendid  harbour, 
and  you  can  run  into  Folkestone  by  train.  It 
only  takes  a  few  minutes." 

"  It  certainly  is  a  short  journey  by  rail,"  I 
admitted,  "  but,  on  the  whole,  Mr.  Rawson,  I 
would  prefer  to  go  by  water.  We  can  list  over  in 
Folkestone  harbour,  as  we  do  at  Leigh.  At  one 
time,  people  tell  me,"  I  added,  "the  Leigh  boats 
had  legs,  but  they  proved  to  be  unnecessary." 

Thus,  by  great  good  luck,  my  ignorance  of 
nautical  matters  had  been  redeemed  by  just  the 
few  little  facts  that  enabled  me  to  deal  with  the 
autocrat's  arguments.  And  behold  !  his  face  bore 
witness  to  discomfiture,  and  he  was  silent. 

To  our  brief  debate  Gotty  had  been  a  listener, 
and  I  interpreted  his  facial  rigidity  as  cloaking  an 
alert  disposition  to  offer  the  support  of  an  ally 
should  the  backward  state  of  my  maritime  educa- 
tion give  advantage  to  the  adversary.  But  I  had 
not  read  his  mind  aright. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   FOLKESTONE     231 

"  There  was  some  on  'em  talking  at  the  Ferry 
Boat  what  knows  Folkestin',"  he  ponderously  re- 
marked, "  and  by  their  account  the  bottom's  all 
stones,  so,  if  there  comes  anything  of  a  swell,  a 
little  wessel  stands  a  charnse  to  'ave  'er  side  stove 
in.  Only,  if  she's  got  legs — well,  that's  what  they 
tell  me!"  he  added  in  confusion,  nonplussed  by 
my  furtive  efforts  to  frown  him  into  silence. 

"  Ah  !  that  most  likely  would  be  the  case," 
Mr.  Rawson  chimed  in,  with  restored  amiability. 
"  When  a  boat's  held  upright  on  her  keel,  you 
see,  sir,  she  can  stand  the  jarring  ;  and  no  doubt 
the  Folkestone  boats  are  stronger  built  than  ours." 

"  Nonsense  !  "  I  was  rude  enough  to  exclaim. 
"  Really,  Gotty,  I'm  surprised  at  you  listening  to 
a  lot  of  silly  taproom  gossip " —  at  which  the 
titular  commander  of  my  vessel,  still  dead  to  all 
diplomatic  niceties  in  the  situation,  obviously  was 
deeply  wounded.  "  There's  a  lot  of  lovely  mud 
at  Folkestone,"  I  added,  meaning  no  disrespect 
to  that  delightful  place,  and,  indeed,  drawing  my 
bow  somewhat  at  a  venture.  For,  to  add  to  my 
annoyance,  this  attack  from  a  friendly  quarter, 
which  had  so  revived  the  enemy  I  had  laid  low, 
was  one  I  knew  not  how  to  parry.  For  anything 
I  definitely  remembered  to  the  contrary,  there 
might  even  be  force  in  what  Gotty  had  said.  In- 
deed, the  very  name  Folkestone  seemed  to  hint  at 
something  of  the  kind.  But  the  die  was  cast.  I 
had  pitted  my  will — my  obstinacy,  if  you  like — 
against  Mr.  Rawson's  ;  and  I  was  ready  to  run 
risks. 


232     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

So  I  told  the  pair  of  them,  with  the  firmness  of 
finality,  that  we  were  going  to  Folkestone  ;  "  and," 
I  briskly  added,  "  I  should  like  you  to  get  there 
as  soon  as  possible,  please." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Rawson,  with  a  smile 
of  all-embracing  kindliness  that  might  easily  have 
been  mistaken  for  a  benediction. 

When,  a  little  later,  I  had  Gotty  to  myself  in  the 
cabin,  I  lost  no  time  in  shaking  my  fist  in  his  face, 
and  pointing  out,  sotto  voce,  that  he  was  a  silly 
old  ass. 

"  Wot's  the  matter  now!"  he  gasped,  and  in  a 
manner  to  show  how  demoralising  to  his  nerves 
had  been  the  recent  controversy. 

I  descended  to  particulars. 

"  You  come  complaining  to  me  about  Mr.  Raw- 
son  being  so  masterful,  and  overruling  everybody, 
and  taking  charge " 

"  And  so  'e  do ! "  Gotty  broke  in  warmly. 
"  Shorely  you  can  see  that  fer  yerself ! " 

"  Of  course  I  can.  But  can't  you  see  we  must 
make  a  stand  against  that  sort  of  thing  ?  So, 
having  arranged  to  go  to  Folkestone,  I  refused  to 
let  him  upset  my  plans.  Then  you  must  needs 
come  and  try  to  spoil  everything." 

"  I  never  tried  to  spoil  nothin' ! "  he  retorted 
indignantly.  "  You  wouldn't  take  no  notice  o' 
what  I  said,  knowin'  better  yerself,  seemin'ly. 
And  p'raps  you  might.  Only  that's  what  they 
tell  me — the  'arbour's  all  stones." 

"  Well,  and  what  if  it  is  ?  We're  not  afraid  of  a 
few  stones,  are  we  ?  " 


THE   BATTLE   OF   FOLKESTONE     233 

I  looked  at  my  pupil  almost  in  despair,  feeling 
that  nothing  short  of  a  coal  hammer  would  convey 
a  sense  of  the  subtle  principles  of  diplomacy  through 
that  tough  cranium. 

"Do  you  think,"  I  went  on  in  random  haste — 
for  this  private  conference  must  not  be  much 
longer  prolonged,  or  we  should  have  the  old 
helmsman  drawing  his  inferences — "  Do  you 
think  there  would  have  been  any  of  this  nonsense 
about  Folkestone  if  his  old  friend  Goldsmith  lived 
there  ?  Can't  we  easily  anchor  outside  the  harbour 
if  it  isn't  advisable  to  go  inside  ?  And  don't  you 
see  we'll  never  manage  him  if  I  pull  one  way  and 
you  pull  another  ?  " 

One  of  those  shots — I  know  not  which — hit  the 
target.  On  a  sudden  the  light  of  understanding 
shone  in  that  large  face.  Perplexity  had  given 
place  to  fraternity. 

"  Right-O  !  Now  I  see  wot  yer  drivin'  at.  As 
fur  as  that  goes,  if  we  didn't  want  ter  lust  over, 
we  could  lash  'er  agin  the  wall  ;  or,  if  there 
mightn't  be  a  berth,  we  could  set  alongside  some 
boat  what's  got  legs.  Yuss  !  I  didn't  know  no 
more'n  the  dead  wot  you  was  after,  seein'  as  you 
'adn't  give  me  word.  'E  don't  'old  with  goin'  ter 
Folkestone  ;  so  that's  set  you  ter  go  there.  And 
wery  proper,  too  ! " 

It  was  not  the  happiest  way  of  stating  the  case, 
as  my  affirmative  wish  certainly  did  not  arise  from 
Mr.  Rawson's  negative  one ;  but  the  definition 
(even  without  the  knowing  nods  and  sagacious 
winks  accompanying  it)  was  sufficiently  approxi- 


234     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

mate  to  reveal  a  mind  in  tune  with  the  delicate 
mutual  obligations  which  our  hapless  situation 
involved. 

"  I'll  go  and  tell  'im,"  he  whispered,  with  the 
over-precipitancy  of  the  newly  converted,  "  '  Mr. 
Rawson,'  I'll  say,  'a  few  stones  needn't  'inder  us 
from  goin'  ter  FolkestinY  No,  I  won't ! "  he 
greatly  relieved  me  by  adding,  "  fer  then  'e  might 
fancy  you  and  me  'ad  bin  talkin'  "  — and  Gotty's 
face  testified  to  a  greater  resentment  of  that 
possible  suspicion  than,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  the 
facts  justified. 

This  secret  debate  having  proceeded  amid 
clouds  of  steam  from  the  kettle,  we  now,  in  carry- 
ing mugs  and  a  pot  of  tea  on  deck,  suggested  an 
innocent  domestic  explanation  of  our  absence.  In 
an  interval  of  happy  truce  with  our  rotund  and 
benevolent-looking  foe,  I  poured  out  his  portion 
of  the  refreshment,  and  Gotty  put  in  the  sugar  ; 
themes  of  easy  conversation  presenting  themselves 
in  the  attractive  aspect  of  the  Essex  coast,  our 
gratifying  rate  of  progress  and  the  wind's  tendency 
to  increase  in  force. 

But  it  was  only  a  truce.  Having  rinsed  the 
crockery  in  a  pail,  and  restored  both  to  their 
appointed  situations,  Gotty  reappeared  on  deck 
with,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  War  writ  large  on  his 
expressive  countenance.  Nor  on  this  occasion 
did  I  misread  the  tokens. 

He  straightway  set  about  a  conscientious  attempt 
to  impose  upon  the  course  of  events  the  stamp  of 
his  new  mental  spirit. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   FOLKESTONE     235 

He  mentioned  an  intention  to  lower  the  top- 
sail. Instantly  Mr.  Rawson  bade  him  do  no 
such  thing.  Thus,  by  no  means  for  the  first 
time,  they  were  at  issue  on  a  question  of  seaman- 
ship. But  now  the  development  constituted  a 
wholesome  novelty. 

"  Carryin'  the  torpsel  in  this  wind,"  persisted 
Gotty,  with  a  stately  composure  full  of  promise, 
"  is  too  much  strain  on  the  stays." 

"  How  am  I  to  keep  her  on  this  course,"  Mr. 
Rawson  demanded  to  be  told,  "  without  the 
topsail  to  steer  her  with  ? " 

"  Easy  enough,"  Gotty  explained  ;  and  he  took 
three  cheerful  steps  to  the  mast. 

It  was  a  dramatic  moment.  My  hopes  rose 
high  as  I  gazed  with  admiration  at  the  man  who, 
a  resolute  hand  already  on  the  appropriate  rope, 
was  about  to  vindicate  his  authority  as  skipper, 
and  thereby  release  us  from  galling  thraldom  to 
one  who  had  encroached  so  comprehensively  on 
the  rights  of  that  office. 

But  I  have  not  yet  told  all. 

"  Very  well !  "  cried  Mr.  Rawson,  scrambling  to 
his  feet  and  hastily  evacuating  the  stern.  "  I've 
done  !  You  can  take  the  tiller  !  " 

The  very  thing,  of  course,  that  Gotty  desired 
to  do.  But  how  often,  in  sharp  crises,  will  a 
man's  impulse  prove  a  traitor  to  his  interests ! 
At  my  skipper's  feet  lay  the  crown  of  victory. 
But  instead  of  adorning  his  resolute  brows  there- 
with, he  made  the  woeful  mistake  of  unravelling 
it  as  a  scourge  for  his  back. 


236     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"All  right,  Mr.  Rawson,  you  needn't  be  so 
'asty,"  was  his  limp  and  lamentable  response,  as, 
with  fatal  irresolution,  he  released  his  hold  of 
the  rope. 

The  incident  was  over.  Mr.  Rawson,  swift  to 
accept  those  soft  words,  had  already  returned  to 
the  helm  ;  and  the  topsail  remained  aloft. 

Alas !  Gotty's  dash  for  freedom  had  but 
tightened  our  fetters.  In  attempting  to  depose 
Mr.  Rawson  from  the  position  of  captain,  he  had, 
as  it  were,  made  him  an  admiral. 

My  crestfallen  ally  had  betaken  himself  below, 
to  deaden  his  feelings  by  chopping  firewood  ;  and 
the  venerable  helmsman  reigned  with  benign 
aplomb  over  the  fortunes  of  our  craft,  gazing 
contentedly  about  him  as  though  embracing  all 
the  visible  universe  within  the  scope  of  his 
benevolent  approbation.  That  sight  speedily 
palling  upon  me,  I  withdrew  into  the  low-pitched 
privacy  of  my  hold,  ostensibly  to  read,  but  in  fact 
to  ruminate.  Out  of  the  grey  texture  of  my 
thoughts  there  arose  the  stern  resolve  to  persist 
in  insisting  on  Folkestone  ;  to  go  there,  happen 
what  might,  and  let  wily  hindrances  be  interposed 
never  so  thickly  in  my  path  ;  to  stubbornly,  piti- 
lessly, tame  the  old  man  to  that  one  act  of 
obedience. 

Let  me  say  at  once — not  to  keep  the  reader  in 
unhealthy  suspense — that  we  did  get  to  Folke- 
stone. But  the  stages  of  our  progress  thither, 
and  the  manner  of  our  arrival,  are  forbidding 
memories. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   FOLKESTONE     237 

On  the  first  day  he  took  us  all  the  way  back 
up  the  Thames  estuary,  and  we  anchored  for  the 
night  in  Sheerness  harbour.  On  the  following  day, 
at  about  noon,  we  arrived  at  Ramsgate.  Next 
morning  we  pushed  on  to  Dover,  and  abode  there 
for  twenty  hours. 

In  a  word,  when  there  wasn't  too  much  wind, 
there  was  too  much  calm.  The  tides  also  were  in 
the  conspiracy  to  hold  us  back  from  Folkestone. 

If  among  my  readers  there  be  any  landsmen 
who  think  they  could  persuade  an  experienced 
mariner,  aged  seventy,  that  the  elements  would 
permit  him  to  prosecute  a  voyage  more  ex- 
peditiously  than  he  has  a  mind  to,  I  hope  they  will 
make  the  experiment.  I  have  convinced  myself 
of  the  limit  to  my  own  powers  in  that  direction. 

Gotty's  attitude,  when  I  appealed  to  him,  struck 
me  as  almost  cowardly. 

"  I  must  allow  'im  ter  know  best,"  he  remarked, 
with  an  air  of  magnanimity  which,  in  all  the 
circumstances,  seemed  a  little  gratuitous.  "  You 
brought  'im  ter  show  us  the  way,  and  I  never 
come  so  fur  south  afore.  But  ain't  them  chalk 
clifts  jest  all  right  ?  I  call  'em  reg'lar  'andsome  !  " 

And,  indeed,  as  the  sunny  panorama  of  the 
Kent  coast  slowly  unwound  its  beauties  to  his 
untravelled  eye,  his  applause  was  enthusiastic  and 
sustained.  Nor  was  I  one  whit  less  exalted  by 
the  sparkling  wonder  of  it  all  ;  and,  indeed,  I 
question  if  this  world  provides  a  keener  joy  than 
to  the  man  who,  on  good  terms  with  his  pipe  and 
his  conscience,  finds  himself  a-rocking  on  the 


238     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

blue  sea,  beneath  the  boundless  immensity  of 
open  sky.  The  words  for  it  are  sweet  air, 
appetite,  contentment,  and — I  had  almost  said — 
freedom.  That  brings  me  back  to  the  leek  in  our 
jar  of  honey — to  the  leak,  if  you  will,  the  metaphor 
being  graciously  indifferent  to  orthography. 

As  we  set  sail  from  Dover,  on  the  fourth  day 
out  from  Woodbridge  Haven,  I  found  myself 
directing  a  covert,  lynx-like  gaze  at  the  counte- 
nance of  our  Cromwellian  helmsman.  Day  after 
day  he  had  essayed  his  arguments,  various  and 
artful,  but  I  had  been  politely  unalterable.  Now 
he  was  past  Shakespeare's  cliff,  entering  the 
sheltered  waters  of  East  Wear  Bay,  and  steering 
straight  for  the  visible  portals  of  defeat.  Never 
had  I  seen  that  remarkable  old  man  looking  more 
cherubic. 

Purringly  I  wondered,  had  he  secretly  retained 
a  last  shot  in  his  locker  ?  No.  For  it  was  not  a 
shot — only  a  little  squib  of  a  thing,  and  quite 
below  the  level  of  his  great  powers.  We  arrived 
outside  Folkestone  harbour  at  a  time  when,  it 
being  low  water,  only  a  crab  or  a  sea-gull  could 
go  in. 

"Never  mind,"  I  told  them.  "We'll  drop 
anchor  here  and  wait  for  the  tide  ; "  and,  it  being 
the  mate's  business  to  drop  the  anchor,  Gotty 
dropped  it.  And  we  did  wait  there.  And  the 
tide  did  come  up.  And  we  did  go  in.  But  I 
think  Gotty's  voice  will  always  break  with  emotion 
when  he  tells  people  how. 

Afloat  you  can  see  little  of  Folkestone  harbour, 


THE   BATTLE   OF   FOLKESTONE     239 

so  narrow  is  its  mouth,  until  you  are  in  the  act  of 
entering  thereat.  Such  was  our  situation,  a  pier- 
head frowning  down  on  either  side  of  the  Betty, 
when  we  discovered,  not  thirty  yards  ahead  of  us, 
the  advancing  prow  of  a  barge  about  to  sail  out  of 
the  haven.  Simultaneous  exit  and  entrance,  with 
vessels  of  any  size,  being  obviously  unwarranted 
by  the  dimensions  of  the  place,  it  followed  (the 
sunny  morning  ensuring  plenty  of  promenaders 
on  pier  and  jetty)  that  we  were  assisting  in  a 
spectacle  that  instantly  engaged  public  interest. 
The  avoidance  of  a  disastrous  collision  (not  that 
we  should  have  hurt  the  barge)  manifestly  de- 
pended on  the  fishing  boat  describing  a  graceful 
curve  to  either  the  right  or  the  left  of  its  far  less 
mobile  vis-a-vis. 

Nor,  brief  as  the  space  of  time  in  which  all 
this  happened,  did  we  lack  human  guidance.  A 
peaked-cap  official  on  the  main  pier-head  was 
shouting  to  us  to  go  to  the  right,  and  placing  his 
meaning  beyond  the  possibility  of  misunderstand- 
ing by  energetically  waving  his  hand  in  that 
direction.  A  man  at  the  bow  of  the  barge  was 
vociferously  bawling  an  identical  instruction,  and 
also  indulging  in  hand-waving  to  correspond. 
Two  jerseyed  figures  on  the  jetty,  and  a  civilian 
on  the  stone  pier,  were  busying  themselves  to  a 
like  purpose ;  and,  to  complete  the  semicircle  of 
uniform  counsel,  an  old  fisherman  on  a  Folke- 
stone smack  was  shouting  and  semaphoring  as 
vigorously  as  anybody. 

"  Got  to  go  ter  starboard,"  cried  Gotty  from  the 


24o     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

bow,  as  he  likewise  flapped  a  demonstrative  hand. 
"  To  the  right !  To  the  right  ! "  I,  standing  by 
the  cabin-opening,  turned  to  explain  to  the  helms- 
man, as  I  mechanically  waved  in  unison  with  all 
the  others.  In  those  few  instants,  indeed,  the 
air  rang  with  the  words  :  "  To  the  right !  Go  to 
the  right ! " 

I  have  but  to  mention  one  little  supplementary 
circumstance,  and  my  account  of  the  incident  is 
complete.  Mr.  Rawson  went  to  the  left. 

When  the  shouts  of  expostulation  had  died 
down  to  murmurings,  accompanied  by  indignantly 
pointing  fingers,  I  turned  to  Mr.  Rawson  with  the 
inquiry : 

"What  on  earth  did  you  do  that  for?  We 
were  told  to  go  to  the  right ! " 

"  I  heard  what  they  said,"  he  cooed,  with  a 
composure  so  absolute  that  for  a  moment  I 
wondered  if  I  had  been  grievously  misjudging  him, 
and  if  he  were  merely  a  dull  old  lunatic.  "  I 
knew,  sir,"  he  added,  with  sprightly  assurance, 
"  what  I  was  doing.  We  gave  the  barge  plenty 
of  room.  I  don't  think  there  is  any  one  here  who 
could  teach  me  much." 

I  felt  quite  sure  there  wasn't.  Nay,  it  seemed 
questionable  if  all  Europe  and  America  contained 
the  gifted  instructor  who  could  puncture  that 
armour  of  complacency  with  any  new  know- 
ledge. 

For  my  part,  I  seemed  to  want  air.  And 
Gotty's  case  was  much  the  same,  if  I  might  judge 
by  the  gurglings  and  broken  exclamations  with 


THE   BATTLE   OF   FOLKESTONE     241 

which,  after  tying  up  the  mainsail,  he  accompanied 
the  labour  of  lashing  the  Betty  to  a  little  wooden 
pier.  By  a  sign  and  a  nod  we  arranged  to  forth- 
with go  ashore.  I  told  Mr.  Rawson  we  probably 
should  not  be  gone  long. 

"That's  all  right,  sir,"  came  the  graceful,  not 
to  say  indulgent,  response.  "  I  dare  say  you'll 
like  to  have  a  run  round  and  see  your  friends. 
I'll  have  a  pipe  of  tobacco  and  a  look  at  that  book 
you  lent  me.  He  needn't  come  back  till  it's  time 
to  put  the  'taters  on." 

"  If,"  I  said  to  Gotty,  when  we  were  out  of 
earshot  of  the  old  man,  "  if  anything  had  gone 
wrong  just  now,  we  should  have  had  to  pay. 
Every  one  told  him  to  go  to  the  right." 

"  Ercourse  we  oughter  'a  gorn  on  'er  weather. 
I  never  see  sech  ignerince !  You  mustn't  go 
ter  lew'ard  of  a  barge  when  she  ain't  got  'er 
leeb'ard  down.  Any  one  what's  used  ter  the 
water  oughter  know  that  much." 

The  old  fellow's  voice  was  husky  with  the 
humiliation  of  it  all. 


XX 

FREEDOM 

IT  happened  somewhat  awkwardly  that,  while 
prosecuting  these  adventures  on  the  unfamiliar 
sea,  Gotty's  city-bred  owner  should  be  preparing 
for  later  adventures  on  the  still  less  familiar  land. 
A  letter  waiting  at  Folkestone  apprised  me  that, 
legal  preliminaries  being  nearly  accomplished,  I 
might  at  any  moment  be  sent  for  to  complete 
the  acquisition  of  the  little  Essex  homestead  on 
which,  as  a  lifelong  Londoner  gone  back  to  the 
land,  I  proposed  to  produce  fruit,  vegetables, 
honey,  and  other  marketable  commodities.  Tem- 
porary stability  of  address  being  thus  desirable,  I 
resolved  to  linger  awhile  at  the  pleasant  port  to 
which,  so  much  against  Mr.  Rawson's  wish,  we 
had  come. 

Yet,  as  I  pointed  out  to  Gotty,  there  was 
no  reason  why  we  should  not  do  some  fishing, 
particularly  as,  since  leaving  Woodbridge  Haven, 
we  had  been  too  much  taken  up  with  Mr.  Rawson 
to  shoot  our  trawl.  Accordingly,  early  next  morn- 
ing we  went  out  with  the  Folkestone  b<~its  to  try 
our  luck  in  Dungeness  Bay.  Nor  could  this  be 
construed  as  an  act  of  poaching  or  presumption. 

"  When  you  was  gorn  ter  see  your  friends  last 

342 


FREEDOM  243 

night,"  Gotty  explained,  "  I  got  talkin'  ter  some 
of  these  Folkestin  chaps,  and  not  'alf  bad  com- 
pany they  ain't,  neither,  only  fust  it  reg'lar 
puzzled  me  ter  make  out  what  they  was  sayin', 
they  talk  so  funny.  There  was  some  on  'em  give 
me  word  ter  come  out  to  the  west'ard  this  mornin', 
along  o'  them.  I  asked  if  there  was  any  fastnesses, 
and  they  said  nolhin'  wouldn't  pull  us  up  if  we  kep' 
inside  five  fadums,  and  don't  go  ter  the  west'ard  of 
some  housen  what  we'll  see.  If  you  'aul  jest  along 
the  shore,  by  all  accounts,  that's  where  you're  most 
likely  ter  get  the  big  'uns." 

Acting  in  accordance  with  this  friendly  counsel, 
we  fished  within  hail  of  several  Folkestone  luggers, 
Gotty  basing  favourable  anticipations  on  the  cloudy 
state  of  the  sea. 

"  When  the  water's  clear,"  he  observed  feelingly, 
"  you  might  jest  as  well  keep  the  trawl  aboard. 
The  fish  see  the  beam  comin'  along  the  bottom, 
that's  what  I  berlieve,  and  it  gives  'em  time  ter  get 
away.  But  when  the  water's  thick  you  do  stand  a 
charnse  to  'arn  a  shillin' — that's  if  there's  any  fish 
to  be  caught ; "  on  which  point,  as  I  knew,  his  mind 
was  a  prey  to  frequent  and  dismal  misgivings. 

The  end  of  the  net,  when  at  last  the  time  came 
for  our  united  efforts  to  lift  it  over  the  side,  was 
bulging  with  flapping  whiteness,  so  that  the  owner's 
bosom  swelled  with  gratification,  even  if  his  skipper 
did  shake  a  dissatisfied  head  and  allude,  in  a  spirit 
of  criticism,  to  the  size  of  our  captives. 

Nor  have  I  ever  seen  Gotty  other  than  dis- 
contented with  our  hauls,  a  circumstance,  how- 


244     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

ever,  which  I  am  less  disposed  to  identify  with 
the  pessimism  it  seems  to  reveal  than  with  the 
optimism  I  am  convinced  it  reflects.  It  is  not 
so  much  that  the  hauls  of  his  laborious  achieve- 
ment are  so  poor  as  that  the  hauls  of  his  buoyant 
imagination  are  so  rich.  A  codfish  looks  a  sprat 
to  the  man  expecting  whales. 

Certainly  the  owner  and  skipper  never  saw  eye 
to  eye  when  the  confusion  of  wet  life  and  glisten- 
ing prettiness  lay  strewn  upon  the  deck.  Often 
enough  it  was  only  a  doubtful  nine  pen'orth  to 
him,  but  always  an  aquarium  of  wonders  to  me. 

The  haul  under  consideration  introduced  us  to 
four  pairs  of  soles  and  half  a  box  of  plaice,  some 
individually  of  a  size  outside  the  scope  of  any 
man's  appetite.  It  introduced  us  to  something 
else — another  rumpus  with  Mr.  Rawson. 

Gotty  was  tying  up  the  trawl  end,  and  with  a 
cheerfulness  of  demeanour  suggesting  that  he  was 
already  taking  mental  stock  of  our  next  draught 
of  fishes,  when  the  old  helmsman,  coldly  and 
pointedly,  asked  him  what  he  was  doing. 

"  Shorely  we're  goin'  ter  put  'er  in  jest  once 
more  ? "  came  in  persuasive  accents  from  the 
skipper,  as  he  looked  from  Mr.  Rawson  to  me. 

"Certainly,"  I  agreed. 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Mr.  Rawson,  "  we've  done  very 
well  for  one  day.  There's  quite  as  many  as  we 
can  eat,  sir,  even  if,"  he  added  significantly,  "  you 
pick  out  the  best  for  your  friends.  It's  time  we 
went  back  now,  or  we  shan't  be  able  to  get  in  the 
harbour." 


FREEDOM  245 

As  far  as  it  went,  I  admitted,  that  statement  was 
correct  enough.  "  But,"  I  found  courage  to  point 
out,  "  I  want  to  catch  some  more  fish  so  that  we 
shall  have  some  to  sell  in  the  market." 

For,  on  the  previous  afternoon,  had  not  Gotty 
and  I  watched  the  auctions,  and  been  greatly 
impressed  by  the  prices  prime  was  fetching  ? 
"O  dear  me!"  Gotty  had  murmured  in  my  ear, 
tl  One  pound  two  fer  that  little  lot  !  You  wouldn't 
only  get  eight  shillin's  at  our  place."  So  of  course 
we  wanted  to  catch  some  fish  for  market. 

But  at  my  commercial  confession,  Mr.  Rawson's 
temper  (I  regret  having  to  record  the  blemish)  got 
a  little  out  of  hand. 

"  It  isn't  what  I  looked  for,"  he  snapped,  "  nor 
what  I'm  used  to  " — which  I  took  to  mean  that 
the  owner  of  the  Pelican  never  forgot  himself  in 
that  way.  But,  then,  he  was  a  gentleman,  whereas 
I  (will  sceptical  friends  please  note),  besides  being 
a  farmer,  am  a  fisherman. 

"  As  for  missing  the  tide,"  I  pointed  out,  "  that 
doesn't  matter.  We  can  do  what  the  Folkestone 
boats  do — anchor  outside  the  harbour  and  wait." 

"  I've  had  about  enough  of  this,"  muttered 
Mr.  Rawson,  not  without  wrath,  as  he  went 
forward  to  assist  in  shoving  the  gear  overboard. 

Two  hours  later,  on  pulling  up  the  trawl 
absolutely  empty,  we  realised  that  it  had  been 
moving  along  the  bottom  upside-down — under 
which  humiliating  misfortune  neither  Gotty  nor 
I  bore  up  with  anything  like  the  fortitude  dis- 
played by  Mr.  Rawson. 


246     GOTTY   AND   THE  GUVNOR 

Trawling  no  more,  we  returned  to  Folkestone, 
anchoring  outside  the  harbour  ;  and  Gotty  and  I 
went  ashore  in  the  dinghey.  Having  purchased 
beds,  bedding,  and  oilcloth,  we  called  upon  some 
friends  of  mine,  the  visit  yielding  an  incident 
which,  if  it  seemed  of  no  great  consequence  at 
the  moment,  was  destined  to  a  sensational  sequel 
on  the  morrow. 

A  buoyant,  not  to  say  boyish,  school-girl  was 
all  aflame  to  accompany  us  when  next  we  went 
a-trawling  ;  and  the  owner,  for  reasons  he  judged 
sufficient,  met  that  request  with  a  reluctant  shake 
of  the  head.  But  the  high-spirited  petitioner  was 
not  so  easily  to  be  baulked  of  her  desire,  and 
so  turned  to  the  skipper  with  a  torrent  of 
enthusiastic  appeal.  Soft-hearted  Gotty  soon 
capitulated. 

"  I  tell  yer  what  we'll  do,  Missy.  You  can't  be 
along  of  us  fishin',  but  when  we  come  in  ter- 
morrow  arternoon  we'll  lay  to  outside,  and  I'll 
row  ashore  and  fetch  you.  Then  we'll  take  you 
fer  'alf-an-hour's  sail  afore  we  come  in";  at 
which  the  delighted  young  lady,  breaking  into 
song,  careered  away  to  spread  the  news. 

"  Now,  don't  you  forget,"  I  warned  Gotty. 

"  It  ain't  likely,"  he  replied  with  dignity.  Nor 
did  he  forget.  But  what  he  did  do — or,  rather, 
what  some  one  else  did — will  be  told  in  due 
sequence.  Meanwhile  I  have  to  state  what 
happened  when  Gotty  and  I,  later  in  the  evening, 
went  line-fishing  off  Copt  Point. 

The  first  thing  that  happened,  by  the  way,  was 


FREEDOM  247 

that  we  could  not  get  back  to  the  Betty,  certain  of 
the  youth  of  Folkestone  harbour  having — as  my 
companion  indignantly  discovered,  after  much 
vain  searching  and  shouting — utilised  our  dinghey 
for  a  trip  to  the  pier  extension.  To  make  matters 
worse,  when  a  pair  of  plausible  youngsters  came 
rowing  back  with  her,  she  was,  as  Gotty's  quick 
eye  readily  detected,  deficient  in  the  spade  and 
sardine  tin  he  had  brought  ashore  with  the  inten- 
tion— though  perspiring  efforts  in  that  direction 
had  not  been  crowned  with  success — of  digging 
worms  for  bait. 

The  manner  in  which  my  skipper  took  this  loss 
speedily  attracted  all  the  boys  within  hearing;  and 
a  minute  later  I  beheld  him  as  the  centre  of  an 
attentive  juvenile  congregation,  to  whom  he  dis- 
coursed on  theft,  dwelling  more  particularly  on 
the  moral — or  perhaps  I  ought  to  say,  the  im- 
moral— aspects  of  his  subject.  Lapse  of  time 
yielding  no  promise  of  practical  outcome,  I  broke 
in  with  the  mundane  offer  of  sixpence  for  the  boy 
who,  not  being  himself  the  guilty  party,  should 
place  us  anew  in  possession  of  our  property  ;  at 
which  the  youngsters  departed  like  unto  a  com- 
pany of  rooks  scattered  by  a  gun.  There  ensued 
an  interval  only  sufficient  for  Gotty  to  purchase 
three  pennyworth  of  worms  from  an  old  man 
who,  to  judge  by  the  number  in  his  can,  must 
have  had  something  of  a  genius  for  digging  them. 
Then  the  boys  came  helter-skelter  back,  one  carry- 
ing the  spade,  and  another  the  sardine  tin,  while 
four  others  noisily  proclaimed  their  superior  title, 


248     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

based  on  complicated  explanations,  to  receive  the 
sixpence.  With  a  rough  attempt  at  justice,  I 
rewarded  the  boy  who  brought  the  spade — a  boy 
with  a  record,  by  his  own  account,  singularly 
free  from  blemish — and  soon  we  were  rowing 
away  from  a  controversy  that  bid  fair  to  end  in 
bloodshed. 

Proceeding  later  to  the  Point,  but  a  few 
hundred  yards  from  where  the  Betty  rocked  at 
anchor,  we  lost  no  time  in  dropping  our  lines 
in  the  water,  Gotty  immediately  pulling  his  up 
with  two  wrigglesome  whiting  affixed  thereto.  A 
fisherman  to  the  marrow,  he  was  all  a-thrill  at  this 
early  success,  though,  alive  to  the  importance  of 
quietude  in  our  deadly  business,  he  strove  man- 
fully to  muffle  his  feelings.  For  half-an-hour  or 
more  we  remained  absorbed  in  our  work,  the 
jubilant  skipper  catching  two  to  my  one,  and 
every  few  minutes  adding  to  the  community  of 
whiting  flapping  at  our  feet. 

As  we  sat  gently  swaying  in  the  deepening 
darkness,  with  the  inky  mystery  of  rocks  and  cliff 
just  ahead,  and  nothing  visible  of  the  harbour, 
far  to  the  right,  but  tiny  twinkling  lights — as,  I 
say,  we  were  thus  peacefully  engaged  in  that 
solemn  silence,  our  ears,  on  a  sudden,  were 
troubled  by  a  piteous  wailing,  with  the  like  of 
which,  in  all  my  experience  of  machinery,  mena- 
geries, and  the  domestic  cat,  I  had  hitherto 
escaped  acquaintance.  The  din  passed  into  a 
variety  of  appalling  cadences — each  the  abject 
appeal  of  dull  misery. 


I    BEHEI.D    HIM    AS   THE   CENTRE   OF   AN    ATTENTIVE  JUVENILE 
CONGREGATION    TO    WHOM    HE    DISCOURSED   ON    THEFT. 


FREEDOM  249 

There  came  a  holy  silence. 

Then  again  my  hearing  was  assailed  by  that 
dolorous  clamour,  so  like  the  frightened  howling 
of  a  lost  soul. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  I  asked  Gotty,  who,  with  turned 
head,  was  a  figure  of  listening  rigidity. 

Yet  a  third  time  had  that  voice  of  gloomy 
sorrow  afflicted  us  with  its  miserable  moanings 
ere  my  companion,  in  the  sudden  light  of  know- 
ledge, found  tongue  : 

"  It's  that  steamboat  comin'  what  'e  don't  like. 
So  'e's  blowin'  the  fog-'orn  fer  us  to  come  back." 

That  our  outfit  for  the  voyage  included  an 
eighteenpenny  instrument  of  the  kind,  I  knew. 
But  this  was  my  first  acquaintance  with  the  music 
of  which  it  was  capable. 

Gotty  was  amused  ;  I  was  annoyed.  Having 
friends  at  Folkestone,  it  was  wounding  to  my  pride 
that  the  voice  of  illusory  fear,  pitched  in  so  high 
a  key  of  pathos,  should  arise  from  my  vessel. 

"  It  ain't  as  if,"  said  Gotty,  grasping  his  oars 
to  row  to  the  rescue,  "  we  wasn't  careful  to  arsk 
where  we  could  lay  clear  of  all  craft.  And 
nobody  couldn't  say  they  can't  see  that  light  on 
our  stay — a  fine  night  and  all !  Pore  ole  feller  ! 
We  give  'im  the  charnse  ter  go  ashore,  or  come 
along  of  us,  didn't  we  ?  But  no  ;  'e  would  stay 
aboard.  And  now  it's  give  'im  the  jumps, 
seemin'ly." 

As,  when  we  arrived  alongside,  Mr.  Rawson 
took  upon  himself  to  reprimand  us,  I  soon  found 
myself  chopping  logic  with  him. 


250     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

ft  Well,"  I  asked,  "  and  suppose  the  steamboat 
had  run  into  you,  what  then  ?  " 

"  Why,"  he  cried  indignantly,  "  I  might  have 
been  drowned." 

"  Quite  so,  but  how  could  we  have  prevented 
the  bawley  being  run  down  ?  " 

"  I  never  said  you  could  prevent  it,"  snapped 
the  old  man. 

"  Very  well,"  I  observed,  growing  indignant  in 
turn,  "  then  we  might  have  been  drowned  too. 
Surely,"  I  added,  "  it  would  be  better  for  you  to 
be  drowned  alone  than  for  us  to  be  drowned  with 
you  ; "  and,  indeed,  when  one  came  to  look  the 
situation  squarely  in  the  face,  his  action  in  blowing 
the  fog-horn,  if  not  downright  selfish,  was  carrying 
a  love  for  company  to  an  extravagant  length. 

"  Oh  1  That's  the  way  you  look  at  it,  is  it ! " 
were  the  wrathful  words  with  which  Mr.  Rawson 
closed  the  conversation. 

Our  relations  with  the  old  man,  it  will  be 
gathered,  were  strained.  The  snap  occurred  on 
the  following  afternoon. 

All  the  morning  we  had  been  trawling  in 
Dungeness  Bay,  and  at  one  o'clock,  with  a  box  of 
numerous  small  flat  fish,  we  turned  our  prow 
towards  Folkestone.  Having  performed  some 
share  of  the  toil,  and  it  being  a  day  of  glorious 
sunshine,  I  had  not  long  participated  in  a  sub- 
stantial dinner  when  the  luxurious  thought  possessed 
me  to  go  and  recline  on  my  new  spring  bed,  and 
pass  a  composed  half-hour  with  a  favourite 
author.  The  intellectual  portion  of  this  pro- 


FREEDOM  251 

gramme,  however,  missed  its  full  accomplishment, 
the  Bettys  gentle  undulations  speedily  lulling  me 
into  a  profound  and  grateful  slumber,  from  which 
I  emerged  to  find  myself  amid  physical  factors  of 
mystery.  The  lashed  and  lowered  mainsail  loomed 
as  a  canopy  over  the  hold  opening,  and  the  vessel 
was  dead  still. 

Scrambling  out,  I  made  the  astounding1  dis- 
covery that,  all'  sails  down,  we  were  in  harbour, 
and  berthed  beside  the  little  wooden  pier.  And 
so  recently  as  dinner  time  I  had  reminded  Gotty 
of  his  promise  to  the  enterprising  school-girl ! 

Standing  at  the  stern,  he  answered  my  heated 
inquiry  by  rolling  two  despairing  eyes  heaven- 
ward, shaking  a  helpless  head,  and  pointing  to  the 
cabin.  There  I  found  Mr.  Rawson,  and  the  upshot 
of  our  five  minutes'  animated  conversation  was 
that  he  tendered  his  resignation  and  I  accepted  it. 

To  have  our  fish  put  up  to  public  auction, 
wrn.t  time  we  modestly  stood  watching  the  com- 
petitive zeal  of  the  purchasing  public,  was  a 
minor  pleasure  which,  in  view  of  the  larger  one 
now  opening  to  our  mental  horizon,  Gotty  and  I 
were  content  to  forego  ;  and  so  he  took  the 
prosaic  short-cut  of  fetching  a  coster,  who  offered 
us  three  and  twopence  for  our  captives,  which  he 
carried  away  on  the  understanding  (fully  acceptable 
to  Gotty's  business  instincts,  which  were  necessarily 
identified  with  more  experience  than  I  could  lay 
claim  to)  that  he  would  pay  the  money  when  he 
returned  the  box. 

The    transaction  was   destined    to    develop    an 


252     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

untoward  feature,  whereof,  however,  a  knowledge 
did  not  reach  me  until  later  in  the  afternoon,  and 
after  I  had  spent  a  fraternal  and  valedictory  half 
hour  with  Mr.  Rawson,  whose  gloomy  misgivings 
as  to  what  might  befall  us,  now  that  we  should 
lack  his  experienced  guidance,  were  in  a  measure 
qualified  by  the  fact  that,  to  lessen  the  encum- 
brances he  would  have  on  the  train,  he  was  pro- 
posing to  entrust  his  cherished  sea-boots  to  our 
care. 

Having  seen  the  old  man  off,  I  sought  for  Gotty 
in  a  quarter  where  a  recent  experience  encouraged 
me  to  believe  he  might  be  found.  Nor  was  this 
anticipation  disappointed,  though  I  was  indeed  ill- 
prepared  for  the  scene  of  tense  animation  into 
which,  on  pushing  open  the  swing  doors,  I  thrust 
an  intrusive  head. 

There  towered  Gotty,  his  brow  furrowed  by  a 
concern  and  perplexity  manifestly  shared  by  our 
coster  patron  standing  by  his  side,  the  aproned 
figure  beyond  the  bar  and  some  eight  or  ten 
fishermen  grouped  around. 

"  Jest  step  inside  fer  a  minute,"  cried  Gotty,  in 
a  voice  that  was  all  excitement,  "and  see  what  you 
can  make  of  it.  My  Guv'nor,  what  I  was  tellin' 
you  about,"  he  added,  in  an  introductory  aside. 
"  'E  put  the  money  down  'ere,"  indicating,  as  I 
gradually  understood,  the  precise  spot  on  which 
the  coster  had  deposited  payment  for  our  fish. 
"  I  see  'im  count  it  out — three  shillin's  and  tup- 
pence. You  see  'im  too,  didn't  yer  ?  " — turning 
about  for  confirmation  that  came  promptly  from  a 


FREEDOM  253 

row  of  nodding  heads.  "  Then  'e  stepped  o'  one 
side,  and  when  I  went  ter  pick  up  the  money, 
there  was  a  shillin'  gorn.  Talk  about  funny — 
well,  I  dunno  what  ter  think  about  it.  There 
you  are." 

Amid  voices  of  sympathy  and  corroboration,  the 
publican  was  anxiously  explaining  to  me  that,  as 
he  did  not  like  a  thing  of  the  kind  to  happen  in  his 
house,  he  had  carefully  and  thrice  raked  through 
the  sawdust  on  the  floor,  but  to  no  purpose.  The 
coster's  distress  was  sufficient  testimony  to  his 
innocence  ;  and  on  learning  of  several  witnesses 
to  the  occurrence  who  had  since  departed,  I 
privately  inferred  that  the  thief,  if  theft  had  been 
committed,  was  no  longer  in  our  midst. 

"  Whether  I've  bin  done  down,"  observed 
Gotty,  who  was  perspiring  under  stress  of  the 
mystery,  "  or  whether  it's  jest  gorn " — and  he 
waved  his  hand  in  vacant  air,  in  comprehensive 
suggestion  of  all  occult  channels  through  which  a 
shilling  might  have  taken  its  departure,  "  I  can't 
tell  yer." 

If  I  could  not  solve  the  enigma,  which  had 
already,  it  seemed,  engaged  the  attention  of  that 
company  for  more  than  an  hour,  I  could  at  least 
abbreviate  its  sequel — to  which  course  I  was  the 
more  strongly  impelled  as  I  desired  my  skipper's 
company  elsewhere. 

"  Oh,  well,"  I  said,  "  the  shilling  is  gone,  so  we 
won't  bother  any  more  about  it.  After  all,  what 
does  it  matter  ?  " 

"There    you    are!      What    did    I    tell    yer!" 


254     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

exclaimed  Gotty,  turning  with  eager  enthusiasm 
from  one  to  the  other.  "That's  the  Guv'nor 
all  over.  'E  don't  make  a  trouble  of  nothin'  :  " 
whereupon  three  elderly  Folkestone  fishermen,  as 
though  recognising  an  owner  after  their  own 
hearts,  raised  their  mugs  and,  with  solemn  cere- 
mony, drank  my  health  in  their  own  beer. 

Peradventure  the  punctilious  reader  will  opine 
that  modesty  should  have  deterred  me  from  record- 
ing that  incident.  Not  at  all.  To  be  able,  here 
and  there,  to  reveal  the  author  in  his  real  character, 
sweetens  the  labour  of  writing  a  book. 


XXI 

FOUR   NEW  MATES 

MATELESS  at  moorings,  Gotty  and  I  revelled  in 
our  freedom,  though  during  several  succeeding 
days  we  had  cause  to  remember  the  price  at  which 
we  had  purchased  it.  Finding  a  successor  to  Mr. 
Rawson  proved,  indeed,  a  protracted  and  trouble- 
some task. 

Early  we  thought  we  had  found  our  man. 
Several  friendly  fishermen  testified  to  his  seaman- 
ship, and  knowledge  of  the  Channel,  while  his 
docile  demeanour  recommended  him  strongly  to 
our  approval  ;  so  that  I  had  already  gone  the 
length  of  formally  engaging  him  for  a  month, 
dating  from  the  morrow,  when  a  kindly  old 
gentleman,  who  had  heard  of  our  intention,  came 
privily  at  dusk  to  sound  an  appalling  note  of 
warning  in  my  ear.  I  knew  that  the  Imperial 
Parliament  had  concerned  itself  with  verminous 
persons,  but  never  before  had  I  heard  of  a  man 
whose  condition  was  such  that  a  duly  elected 
municipal  body  had,  in  the  name  of  the  public, 
subjected  him  to  a  thorough  cleansing  and 
fumigation. 

Whether   the   old  gentleman    had    uttered    the 
255 


256     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

envenomed  words  of  personal  enmity,  or  conferred 
upon  two  strangers  almost  as  great  a  kindness  as 
one  mortal  can  confer  upon  another,  I  was  at  a 
loss  to  decide.  The  same  doubt  divided  the  mind 
of  my  skipper,  who,  when  I  gave  him  the  sen- 
sational news,  was  aghast. 

"  Oppers  is  bad  enough,  but —  ! "  he  exclaimed 
with  eloquent  incompleteness.  "Why,  whatever 
would  my  missis  say  ?  She's  pore,  we  know,  but 
wonderful  clean." 

Anxious  but  discreet  inquiries  having  convinced 
us  that  my  elderly  visitor  was  no  slanderer, 
nothing  remained  but  to  break  the  contract  as 
best  we  might — a  task  of  the  greater  delicacy  as  it 
might  well  be  that  the  individual  in  question  had, 
since  the  ordeal  referred  to,  maintained  the  satis- 
factory condition  in  which  it  had  left  him. 

Not  being  fully  agreed  whether,  in  the  circum- 
stances that  had  arisen,  action  lay  with  the  owner 
or  the  skipper,  we  undertook  the  ugly  job  in 
combination. 

"  Look  'ere,  mate,  you  ain't  got  proper  shift- 
ables  ter  come  along  of  us,"  Gotty  told  him  ;  and 
I  added  a  small  pecuniary  solatium. 

The  next  mate  we  happened  upon  was  certified 
free  from  so  monstrous  a  blemish,  besides  being 
strongly  recommended  on  other  grounds.  Though 
warned  that  this  young  man,  who  had  a  conspicuous 
squint,  was  very  quiet  and  unobtrusive,  we  were 
ill  prepared  for  the  abundant  revelation  of  those 
characteristics  afforded  by  his  first  full  day  in  our 
service.  Engaged  overnight,  he  arrived  on  board 


FOUR   NEW   MATES  257 

just  as  we  had  breakfast  prepared  ;  and,  having 
participated  in  that  repast,  he  asked  if  I  would 
lend  him  something  to  read.  After  devoting  a 
silent  hour  to  the  monthly  magazine  I  placed  at 
his  disposal,  he  went  for  a  walk.  From  this  con- 
stitutional he  returned  in  the  nick  of  time  for 
dinner,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  meal  he  once 
more  withdrew  from  our  society,  into  which  he 
did  not  again  intrude  until  we  had  spread  the 
cloth  for  tea.  Arising  from  the  refreshment,  he 
diffidently  expressed  a  disposition  to  sleep  on 
shore  until  such  time  as  we  might  resume  our 
voyage. 

"  Right  you  are,  mate,"  said  Gotty,  eyeing  our 
acquisition  thoughtfully.  "  Only  we're  agoin'  out 
fishin'  termorrow,  so  be  shore  you  come  aboard 
by  seven,  afore  we  go  aground." 

"  Talk  about  a  rum  'un  ! "  commented  my 
skipper,  as  he  watched  the  interesting  figure  of 
our  mild-mannered  mate.  "  Why,  'e  ain't  lifted  a 
finger  all  day.  When  'e  arsked  fer  a  book  ter 
read  this  mornin',  I  couldn't  'ardly  believe  my 
own  ears,  me  'aving  started  to  wash  up  the  cups 
and  saucers  jest  to  show  'im  the  way,  seein'  'e 
was  strange  to  the  boat.  Then  'e  see  me  mend 
the  net,  and  mop  down,  and  let  go  the  lashin's ; 
fer  it  wasn't  only  one  eye  what  was  readin'  the 
book,  t'other  followin'  me  all  round  like  a  cat. 
And  never  offered  ter  lend  a  'and  or  nothin' ! 
What  does  'e  think  we  took  'im  fer,  I  wonder — 
not  to  be  a  orniment  shorely,  with  them  eyes  and 
great  patches  on  'is  trousis." 

R 


258     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

Next  morning,  on  awakening  at  eight  o'clock, 
I  found  the  Betty  still  in  harbour  and  aground. 
Gotty  took  the  situation  calmly. 

"  Jack  Frost  ain't  turned  up,"  he  explained, 
"  and  very  likely,  more  than  gettin'  'old  of  a  bit  o' 
grub,  'e  never  'ad  no  thought  ter  stand  by  us. 
Yet  I  dunno,"  he  added,  at  the  recollection  of  a 
circumstance  in  antagonism  to  that  theory.  "  I 
fancy  'e  brought  some  clothes  aboard,  too  ; "  and 
having  visited  the  cabin,  he  reappeared  carefully 
holding  two  garments  at  arm's  length. 

These,  as  though  with  some  vague  idea  of  airing 
them,  he  deposited  on  the  cabin  top. 

We  were  soon  busying  ourselves  over  the  pre- 
paration of  breakfast,  and  no  sooner  were  the  eggs 
cooked  and  the  coffee  made  than,  on  looking  up, 
we  beheld  the  mate  apologetically  gazing  down  at 
us  from  the  little  wooden  pier. 

"  Ain't  you  rather  late  ? "  asked  Gotty,  as  he 
began  an  attack  on  the  round  of  toast  I  had 
handed  him. 

"  I  was  down  here  at  seven,"  said  the  mate  in  a 
voice  of  mild  defence. 

"  Oh ! "  replied  the  skipper,  his  mouth  in  no 
condition  for  argument. 

"  I  did  call  out,"  continued  the  young  man, 
without  animation,  "  but  there  was  no  one  about, 
so  I  went  away  again." 

•'  Oh  ! "  the  skipper  again  remarked ;  and  we 
continued  our  breakfast  in  silence,  the  young  man 
remaining  impassive  on  the  pier.  Several  minutes 
went  by,  I  bethinking  myself  how  best  we  could 


FOUR    NEW   MATES 


259 


terminate  our  contract  with  a  mate  so  palpably 
deficient  in  useful  human  qualities.  Ways  and 
means  lay  nearer  to  hand  than  I  realised. 


V/e  beheld  the  mate  apologetically  gazing  down  at  us  from 
the  little  wooden  pier. 

Having  finished  his  second  egg,  Gotty  arose, 
and,  after  carefully  brushing  the  crumbs  from  his 
beard  and  chest,  stepped  to  the  cabin  top. 
Thoughtfully  raising  the  two  alien  articles  of 
attire — a  pair  of  trousers  and  a  waistcoat — he 


260     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

hurled  them  in  quick  succession,  and  with  a  fault- 
less aim,  at  their  owner,  who,  on  recovering  from 
the  double  shock,  picked  up  his  property  and 
silently  stole  away.  Neither  spoke  a  word  or 
uttered  a  sound.  The  form  of  dismissal,  indeed, 
was  one  which,  in  its  simplicity  and  directness, 
belonged  to  the  region  of  drama. 

"  I've  'ad  quite  enough  of  'im,"  Gotty  observed, 
as  he  resumed  his  seat  with  a  view  to  treacle  on  a 
buttered  roll.  "  Why !  I've  bin  up  since  'arf- 
past  six,  and  'e  never  come  anywheres  near." 

As  that  afternoon  we  sat  deploring  the  state  of 
unprofitable  inactivity  in  which,  because  we  had 
no  mate,  it  was  our  fate  to  abide,  I  jokingly 
offered  my  services  in  that  capacity. 

"  Well !  you'd  do  all  right,"  exclaimed  Gotty, 
and  with  such  solemn  heartiness  that  I  resolved, 
for  one  trip,  to  realise  in  earnest  what  was  pro- 
posed in  jest. 

Acting  on  the  advice  of  three  young  fishermen 
who  manned  a  Folkestone  lugger,  and  who  had 
already  given  us  proof  of  a  friendly  disposition, 
we  went  out  next  morning  and  fished,  with  four 
other  boats,  in  East  Wear  Bay.  Within  the 
indicated  limits  free  from  rocks  and  wrecks,  we 
made  a  succession  of  hauls  in  a  light  wind ; 
and  were  gratified  by  the  capture  of  several  large 
soles,  three  good-sized  brill,  two  weevers,  a  rock 
crab,  and  many  plaice  of  medium  dimensions. 

Gotty,  in  constant  touch  with  rudder,  sails,  and 
trawl,  was  a  creature  of  vigorous  activity,  per- 
petually running  to  and  fro,  and  so  zealously 


FOUR   NEW   MATES  261 

applying  himself  to  his  multifarious  tasks  that  his 
features  streamed  with  perspiration.  My  re- 
sponsibilities were  practically  limited  to  turning 
the  winch,  assisting  to  shake  the  net  free  of  sea- 
weed, and  haul  it  aboard,  and  lending  a  hand  to 
sort  the  catch. 

During  a  final  haul  the  freshening  wind  put 
white  caps  on  the  waves,  so  that  the  business  of 
running  into  the  little  crowded  harbour  was  one 
not  to  be  lightly  thought  of.  Nor  did  I  lightly 
think  of  it  ;  though  Gotty  assured  me  I  need  not 
worry,  and  that  we  should  come  to  no  harm  if  I 
did  what  he  told  me. 

As  we  approached  the  harbour  entrance,  he 
posted  me  at  the  mast,  with  instructions  to 
gradually  release  two  indicated  ropes  when  he 
gave  the  word.  Thereby,  I  knew,  would  the 
mainsail  be  lowered  ;  though  in  what  order,  and 
at  what  rate,  I  was  to  release  the  ropes  were 
points  on  which  I  fain  would  have  had  tuition. 
But  my  instructor's  attention  was  too  intently 
fixed  on  his  immediate  cares  as  helmsman  to 
appreciate  these  vacancies  in  the  pupil's  mind. 

What  happened  was  this  :  we  were  running  like 
an  express  train  for  the  gap  between  the  piers,  and 
Gotty  shouted,  "  Lower  away  !  "  immediately  add- 
ing, in  correction  of  my  first  promptings,  "  Not 
that  one.  Look  sharp  !  "  So  I  grabbed  the  other 
rope,  and  had  not  released  it  more  than  half-a- 
dozen  feet  or  so,  when  he  cried,  "  T'other  one  ! 
T'other  one  !  "  So  I  turned  my  attention  to  the 
rope  I  had  proposed  to  deal  with  at  the  outset. 


262     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

I  released  it  a  few  feet.  "  Lower  !  "  he  shouted. 
I  released  it  a  few  more  feet.  "  Lower  ! "  he 
yelled.  I  released  it  still  a  few  feet  more. 
lt  Lower ! "  he  howled.  Even  again  I  suffered  a 
corresponding  length  to  run  through  my  hands. 
"  Lower  !  Lower  ! "  once  more  came  the  agonised 
instruction.  "  Let  it  all  out  !  "  Gotty  thundered. 
I  did.  I  let  go  of  the  rope  altogether,  to  make 
quite  sure  this  time. 

At  the  moment  I  merely  knew  that  my  hat  was 
knocked  off  and  that  I  nearly  went  sprawling. 
Next  minute  I  learnt  that  the  descending  gaff  had 
narrowly  escaped  Gotty's  cranium,  that  the  main- 
sail was  hanging  over  in  the  water,  and  that 
spectators  on  the  stone  pier  were  giving  un- 
mistakable proof  of  being  amused. 

"That  ain't  nothin'/'  presently  my  skipper  was 
remarking  in  reassuring  accents.  "  If  there  was 
never  no  worse  trouble  than  that  it'd  be  all  right. 
Lor'  bless  yer,  gettin'  the  sail  wet  don't  signify. 
You  ain't  done  so  wonderful  bad,  let  me  tell  yer, 
fer  a  beginner." 

Never  before  had  I  so  fully  appreciated  the 
services  of  a  clever  youngster,  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Bullfinch,  who  had  fallen  into  the  way  of 
coming  on  board  the  Betty,  notably  on  the  occa- 
sions of  our  entering  the  harbour,  to  make  himself 
generally  useful. 

Critically  examining  our  catch,  this  alert  youth 
said  we  had  not  done  so  well  as  we  might,  though 
better  than  some,  and  he  went  on  to  point  out 
that  Gotty's  separation  into  prime  and  offal  was,  in 


FOUR   NEW   MATES  263 

some  details,  inconsistent  with  Folkestone  usage. 
When  the  Bullfinch  had  emptied  our  boxes  and 
rearranged  the  fish  properly  (Gotty  reverentially 
watching  the  expert  manipulator),  our  young  guide 
and  counsellor  asked  which  of  us  proposed  to 
act  as  salesman  in  the  market.  We  modestly  ex- 
plained that,  though  somewhat  at  a  loss  how  to 
get  in  touch  with  those  personages,  we  thought  of 
entrusting  our  interests  to  one  of  the  auctioneers. 

"  But  you're  allowed  to  sell  your  own  fish,"  the 
Bullfinch  explained. 

Freely  admitting  my  own  incapacity  for  the 
task,  I  asked  Gotty  if  he  would  like  to  essay  it. 
Smiling  bashfully,  he  said  he  thought  he  would 
rather  not. 

"  I'll  sell  them  for  you  if  you  like,"  volunteered 
our  youthful  ally ;  and  that  was  agreed  to.  Gotty 
shouldering  the  boxes,  we  set  out  for  the  market ; 
and  presently,  standing  demurely  in  the  throng, 
we  watched  the  Bullfinch  as,  our  wares  strewn  on 
the  pavement  at  his  feet,  he  competed  for  the 
attention  of  purchasers,  his  confident  treble  sound- 
ing in  such  contrast  to  the  deeper  voices  of  the 
auctioneers  that  some  spasms  of  unthinking 
laughter  arose  in  the  crowded  little  market. 
Nothing  discouraged,  the  self-reliant  youth  per- 
sisted in  his  business-like  clamour,  shrilly  reiterat- 
ing each  bid  he  received  until  it  was  superseded 
by  a  superiority  of  sixpence.  Finally  the  parcel 
was  knocked  down  for  eight  shillings  ;  so  that 
after  paying  a  commission  to  the  Bullfinch,  and 
handing  a  moiety  of  the  balance  to  Gotty,  I  put 


264     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

three  and  sixpence  in  my  pocket  with  the  comfort- 
able feeling  that  I  had,  as  the  saying  goes,  earned 
it  by  the  sweat  of  my  brow. 

But  that  morning's  fishing  had  another  con- 
sequence besides  adding  to  our  financial  resources. 
It  confirmed  me  in  a  resolution  that  had  been 
gradually  taking  shape  in  my  mind.  The  mental 
seed,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  had  been  sown 
by  masterful  Mr.  Rawson,  and  it  had  germinated 
on  a  careful  study  of  our  chart  and  navigation- 
book.  I  determined  to  pilot  the  Betty  to  Cornwall 
and  back,  should  Gotty  prove  willing  to  trust 
himself  in  my  hands.  He  did. 

"  And  why  shouldn  t  yer  ?  "  he  exclaimed,  his 
fervent  acquiescence  taking  an  interrogative  form. 
"We  ain't  likely  to  find  a  better  scholar  than  what 
you  are.  It  don't  matter  what  book  it  is — I'd 
back  you  agin  any  one  for  readin'  it  ;  and  no 
trouble,  seemin'ly.  And  good  'and-writin',  too — 
so  I  'ear  from  them  as  see  what  you've  writ  in  the 
noospapers.  It's  my  misforchin'  that  I  never  'ad 
no  schoolin' — only  two  days  ;  and  the  fust  day 
they  set  me  to  chop  firewood,  and  next  day  to 
carry  coals.  '  'Ere,'  says  my  father  when  'e  come 
to  fetch  me  away.  '  I  know  a  better  school  than 
what  that  is,'  and  'e  sent  me  ter  work — to  'elp  arn 
wittles  fer  my  little  brothers  and  sisters.  Yus,"  he 
added,  reverting  to  what,  after  all,  was  the  subject 
under  consideration,  "  if  you  can't  prick  a  chart 
I'd  like  ter  know  'oo  can." 

Yet  it  happened  that,  by  the  very  phrase  in 
which  he  expressed  so  gratifying  a  confidence  in 


FOUR    NEW   MATES  265 

my  latent  capacity  as  a  navigator,  Gotty  induced  a 
disconcerting  doubt  on  that  point  to  arise  in  my 
own  mind.  Pricking  a  chart  I  vaguely  identified 
with  some  process  analogous,  so  far  as  the 
implement  employed  was  concerned,  to  eating 
periwinkles.  It  had  always  conjured  up  a  mental 
picture  of  a  man  in  a  reefer  coat  leaning  over 
a  great  sheet  of  paper,  and  making  a  long  series 
of  minute  perforations  thereon — though  what 
guiding  principles  controlled  his  action,  and  what 
practical  object  he  had  in  view,  I  was  at  a  loss 
to  understand. 

"  Why,"  cried  my  companion,  when  I  gave  him 
some  hint  of  this  intellectual  darkness,  "  you  don't 
do  it  with  a  pin.  Pricking  the  chart  only  means 
you  find  'ow  ter  go  where  you  want  to  without 
gettin'  aground  nowheres,  or  comin'  ath'art  a  rock 
what's  jest  under  water  only  you  can't  see  it." 

That  uncertainty  removed,  we  once  more  turned 
our  attention  to  the  everlasting  Mate  Problem, 
agreeing  that  a  willing  seaman,  equal  to  all  deck 
drudgery,  would  fulfil  our  requirements,  and  that 
if  he  knew  nothing  of  the  Channel,  and  was 
innocent  of  scholarship,  so  much  the  better. 

In  Stephen  Cole  we  next  day  found  a  man  with 
all  these  qualifications,  and  I  engaged  him  for  a 
month  on  his  own  terms — twenty-five  shillings 
a  week  and  his  food. 


XXII 

IN  A  COLLISION 

AT  midday  we  resumed  our  voyage  in  a  calm  so 
absolute  that  the  long  oars  were  needed  to  force 
our  sluggish  way  round  the  pier  extension.  Then, 
our  sails  hanging  useless,  we  lay  on  that  sea  of 
glass,  not  indeed  stationary,  for  the  tide's  gentle 
influence  bore  us  westward  broadside  on,  though 
progress  was  only  to  be  perceived  on  re-glancing, 
in  the  leisurely  lapse  of  time,  at  the  sunny  coast- 
line, when  features  of  Sandgate  and  Hythe  were 
seen  to  have  slipped  to  the  east  by  small  degrees. 

A  breeze  springing  up  anon,  drifting  gave  place 
to  sailing,  and  the  new  vitality  with  which  the 
bawley  plunged  forward  on  her  course,  had  a 
corresponding  influence  on  the  spirits  of  her 
crew. 

We  were  in  Cole's  world,  and  thus  it  was 
fitting  that  he  should  take  the  helm.  Of  robust 
physique  and  middle-aged,  he  wore  ear-rings,  and 
had  a  bronzed,  Italian  look,  for  all  that  he  was 
Folkestone  born  and  bred.  His  taciturnity- 
arising,  as  we  realised  on  a  fuller  acquaintance, 
from  a  modesty  nearly  related  to  diffidence — 

yielded  under  the  elation  of  finding  himself  at  the 

266 


IN   A   COLLISION  267 

post  of  responsibility,  with  two  deferential  ship- 
mates outside  the  pale  of  his  local  knowledge. 

As  we  approached  Dungeness — dreary  stretch 
of  shingle  with  a  lofty  lighthouse — Cole  told  us 
how  thickly  the  bay  was  strewn  with  wrecks  and 
anchors,  and  how  many  lost  trawls  lay  rotting  in 
their  clutches. 

"  We've  come  by  sixty-three  fastenings,"  he 
grimly  explained.  "The  Northfleet  lays  in  a  line 
with  that  tower,  there's  a  large  yacht  astern,  and 
over  here  three  old  anchors  are  set  in  a  triangle. 
They've  been  there  as  long  as  any  one  remembers 
—three  Dutch  men-of-war,  so  I've  heard  people 
say,  that  lay  off  here  to  make  a  swoop  on  Dym- 
church,  but  a  gale  came  on  and  they  had  to  run 
for  it,  with  no  time  to  pick  up  their  anchors." 

"  It's  jest  like  our  place,"  Gotty  deplored,  as  he 
shook  his  head  over  the  widespread  perils  by  which 
an  honest  fisherman's  life  was  beset.  "  That's  the 
wake  of  a  wreck,  ain't  it  ?  "  he  added  in  some  ex- 
citement, as  he  pointed  to  where  uniform  ripples 
gave  place  to  water  of  oily  irregularity. 

"  Yes,"  said  Cole,  "  that's  an  old  brig  ; "  and 
they  explained  to  me  how,  on  tidal  pressure 
meeting  the  obstruction  of  a  submerged  wreck, 
the  resulting  upward  impulse  of  the  water  makes 
its  impression,  in  calm  weather,  on  the  surface. 

Sailing  by  the  headland,  we  were  within  pistol 
shot  of  the  lifeboat  conspicuously  strutted  in 
readiness  to  take  the  water  by  gravitation. 

Barely  eight  miles  now  separated  us  from  the 
haven  I  had  chosen  for  the  night — Rye  harbour  ; 


IN   A   COLLISION  269 

and,  keenly  enjoying  a  glorious  evening,  we  sped 
on  in  constant  view  of  a  beach  whereof  the  mono- 
tony was  only  broken  where  half-submerged  nets 
and  posts  formed  some  automatic  apparatus  for 
catching  fish.  In  the  gloaming  we  had  a  glimpse 
of  the  cliffs  of  Fairlight,  dimly  purple. 

Meanwhile  the  amateur  pilot  had  been  consulting 
his  book  and  chart,  though  with  no  very  urgent 
sense  of  responsibility.  The  new  mate's  practical 
experience  extending  to  Rye,  there  was  no  need  at 
present  for  printed  knowledge. 

My  book  made  it  abundantly  clear  that,  what 
with  shallows,  currents,  and  the  narrow  dimensions 
of  the  Channel,  the  task  of  entering  Rye  harbour 
was  not  to  be  lightly  essayed  ;  and  thus  I  judged 
that  Cole  did  wisely  when,  on  coming  abreast  that 
inlet  at  nightfall,  he  put  the  Betly  about,  to  wait  for 
high  water  before  running  in. 

"  We  must  git  out  our  side  lights,"  Gotty  some- 
what tardily  remembered  ;  and  he  and  I  descended 
into  the  cabin  to  haul  those  beacons  from  their 
locker,  and  get  them  ready  for  service.  He 
tackled  the  green  lantern,  while  I  dirtied  my 
fingers  with  the  red,  our  task  being  the  more 
difficult  because,  as  I  discovered  in  some  dismay, 
the  oil-holders  were  misfits,  and,  owing  to  mutual 
antiquity,  the  cogs  were  powerless  to  move  the 
wicks. 

"We  must  look  sharp,"  said  Gotty  when,  his 
omnipotent  clasp-knife  having  seen  us  through 
the  latter  trouble,  he  triumphantly  reached  finality 
by  burnishing  the  glass  with  his  thumb,  "for  I 


270     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

jest  see  two  wessels  comin'  up,  and  most  likely 
they'll  be  turnin'  with  us,  seein'  they  can't  go  in 
till  there's  water." 

So  it  proved.  Having  assisted  to  lash  the 
lanterns  into  their  appointed  receptacles  on  the 
rigging,  I  gazed  at  the  coloured  eyes,  as  it  seemed, 
of  two  monsters  swinging  around  and  about  us. 

"  They're  Rye  smacks,"  Cole  explained.  "  It 
always  beats  me  how  big  craft  like  that  get  in  and 
out  of  their  little  harbour." 

In  comparison  with  the  great  length  and  width 
of  those  Rye  boats,  with  their  towering  masts  and 
enormous  areas  of  brown  canvas,  the  Betty  seemed 
a  mere  little  tub  of  a  thing. 

That  the  small  stranger  excited  the  curiosity  of 
the  Rye  fishermen  was  attested  by  the  near  views 
of  her  which,  by  adroit  helm  manipulation,  they 
were  at  pains  to  secure ;  nor  did  we  lack  proof  of 
an  altruistic  element  in  their  interest.  Shouts 
arose  from  one  of  the  smacks — thick  melodious 
Sussex  throating  which,  when  Cole  supplied  an 
interpretation,  proved  to  be  an  intimation  that, 
for  a  vessel  our  size,  there  was  already  plenty  of 
water  over  the  bar.  He  did  not,  however,  act 
upon  the  hint  he  translated,  nor  was  I  other  than 
pleased  to  note  his  preference  for  tarrying  outside 
yet  a  little  while  longer,  to  make  additionally  sure 
of  our  subsequent  security  in  going  in.  But  I 
did  not  appreciate  the  full  extent  of  his  sagacity 
until,  on  one  of  the  smacks  shaping  her  course 
for  the  harbour  (as  the  pale  starlight  sufficed  to 
show  us  she  was  doing)  Cole  handled  his  tiller  to 


IN   A   COLLISION  271 

a  like  purpose,  so  that  we  fell  in  line  behind  her, 
with  the  advantage  of  a  sure  guide  to  the  path  of 
safety  and  deep  water. 

Our  entrance  into  the  harbour  mouth  was  full 
of  interest  to  a  pilot  bent  on  his  own  education. 
This  was  my  first  opportunity  to  test  book  know- 
ledge in  the  light  of  reality  ;  and  I  was  not  a 
little  uplifted  in  spirit,  on  an  absorbing  study  of 
lights  and  other  features  of  the  place,  to  find  they 
so  exactly  answered  to  what  I  was  instructed  they 
would  be. 

As  for  Gotty,  not  having  read  the  book,  he  was 
astonished  by  the  strength  of  the  current  running 
past  the  pier-head. 

Having  thus  accounted  for  the  thoughts  that 
occupied  both  our  minds,  I  would  have  the  reader 
picture  us  as  standing  somewhere  near  the  middle 
of  the  vessel.  With  regard  to  Cole,  he,  of  course, 
was  astern,  steering. 

On  oath  in  a  court  of  law  I  could  return  nothing 
but  unsatisfactory  answers  to  the  question  whether 
at  that  time  I  heard  shouting.  Perhaps  I  heard  it 
in  the  semi-conscious  way  of  a  person  who,  his 
attention  being  on  other  matters,  gives  no  heed  to 
the  experience  of  his  ears. 

And  now  I  have  to  deal  with  the  sensations  and 
happenings  that  were  crowded  into  a  mere  second 
of  time.  I  had  heard  the  shouting,  and  realised 
that  it  arose  from  the  smack  in  front  of  us,  but 
the  impulse  of  wondering  what  the  demonstration 
might  signify  was,  as  it  were,  interrupted  at  its 
inception  on  a  realisation  that  some  panic  sense 


272     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

of  urgency  had  communicated  itself  from  Gotty  to 
Cole  or  from  Cole  to  Gotty,  unless  indeed — for  I 
cannot  feel  sure  on  that  poiut — it  had  afflicted 
both  simultaneously. 

Let  me  now  pass  on  to  what  occurred  in  the 
next  second.  Strongly  predisposed  to  believe 
that  something  wondrous  untoward  was  happen- 
ing, or  pending,  but  with  a  mind  wholly  blank  as 
to  what  that  something  might  be,  I  looked  ahead, 
whereupon  a  momentous  piece  of  knowledge 
smote  my  brain  without  explaining  itself.  As 
that  statement  is  open  to  the  same  criticism,  let 
me  say  that  the  known  and  ample  interval  be- 
tween our  vessel  and  the  other  had  been  eliminated 
as  by  a  horrid  piece  of  conjuring.  I  saw  the  fact, 
but  so  incapable  was  my  intellect  of  deducing  its 
cause  that  mine  was  the  dumbfounded  attitude 
appropriate  to  one  confronting  an  arrested  law 
of  nature. 

"  She's  fast ! "  were  words,  feverishly  spoken  by 
Gotty's  voice,  that  illumined  my  understanding. 
The  Rye  boat  had  grounded  in  Rye  harbour.  All 
her  sails  still  bellied  out,  she  had  nevertheless 
come  to  a  dead  stop  right  in  our  path.  A  dire 
peril  had  arisen  from  the  perfection  of  our 
measures  to  ensure  safety.  By  a  sardonic  re- 
versal of  all  probability,  the  habitu£  had  done  the 
very  thing  that  the  stranger  was  following  her  to 
avoid  doing. 

In  the  fraction  of  time  to  which  all  these  ex- 
planatory words  apply,  we  were  careering  forward 
under  full  canvas  at  the  propulsion  of  a  steady 


IN   A   COLLISION  273 

breeze  and  a  strong  current.  The  space  between 
the  tip  of  our  bowsprit  and  the  smack's  stern, 
looming  massive  and  mountainous  before  us, 
would  be  about  a  yard  and  a  half. 

Unlike  pens,  eyes,  and  tillers,  the  human  mind, 
in  its  performances,  is  practically,  if  not  entirely, 
independent  of  time.  In  the  retrospect  I  find 
that  my  own  mind  was  particularly  busy  during 
the  early  phase  of  the  period,  so  infinitely  brief, 
that  the  Betty  occupied  in  covering  that  yard  and  a 
half  of  intervening  space.  The  sounds  of  activity 
and  excitement  that  came  from  behind  were  a 
sufficient  suggestion  that  our  rudder  had  gone,  or 
was  going,  round.  Yet  obviously  this  operation 
came  too  late  to  avert  disaster.  I  knew  that  the 
Betty  was  about  to  butt  full-tilt  against  that  tower- 
ing mass  of  brown  solidity. 

We  are  so  apt  to  picture  ourselves  confronting 
unexpected  peril  with  distraught  minds  and  up- 
raised arms  and  hair,  that  I  may  be  forgiven  for 
revealing  the  contrary  condition,  on  that  occasion, 
of  one  whom  nobody  could  mistake  for  a  hero. 
Two  emotions  held  dominion  in  my  mind — a  sense 
of  the  inevitable,  and  curiosity.  I  knew  that 
nothing  I  could  do  would  affect  the  situation,  and 
so  I  did  nothing.  For  the  rest,  never  having  seen 
-a  collision  before,  I  was  keenly  interested.  Nay, 
a  feeling  of  chastened  gratification  was  identified 
with  a  dim  apprehension  of  the  fact  that  I  was 
on  the  point,  not  merely  of  witnessing  one  of 
those  spectacles,  but  of  witnessing  it  from,  as  it 
were,  a  seat  in  the  front  row.  Impressions  left 

S 


274     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

by  descriptions  of  collisions,  and  photographs  of 
vessels  that  had  taken  part  in  them,  prepared  me 
to  expect  that  the  Betty's  crushed  bow  would  be 
associated  with  cavities  in  splintered  woodwork, 
and  perhaps  a  submerging  inrush  of  water.  A 
swimmer,  it  was  doubtless  natural  there  should  be 
no  apprehension  of  drowning,  even  on  behalf  of 
the  mate,  who  was  no  swimmer  ;,  but  what  strikes 
me  as  strange  is  that  I  should  have  been  un- 
troubled by  any  recollection  that  the  Betty  was 
uninsured  and  that  I  was  her  owner. 

To  the  thoughts  that  occupied  my  mind,  in 
what  seemed  so  leisurely  a  fashion,  as  the  Betty  was 
charging  the  smack,  I  have  to  make  one  curious 
little  addition.  Realising  that  my  pipe  had  gone 
out,  I  had  already  started  my  hand  pocket-wards  in 
quest  of  matches,  when  our  vessel  reached  the  other. 

I  had  made  no  provision — a  foolhardy  omission 
— for  steadying  myself  when  the  bump  came. 
Nor  do  I  remember  the  bump.  That  memory 
must  have  been  destroyed  by  experiences  im- 
mediately succeeding.  At  first  the  most  vivid 
impression  was  of  the  noisy  and  protracted 
splitting  of  wood,  as  though  a  falling  church  spire 
were  ploughing  its  way  through  a  barricade  of 
egg  boxes.  Then,  like  a  tangled  shower  of  inter- 
minable eels,  cordage  was  descending  about  us  so 
copiously  and  continuously  that  I  stretched  a 
protecting  arm  over  my  head,  though,  as  some 
shuddering  thuds  informed  me,  the  avalanche  in- 
cluded items  of  far  greater  avoirdupois  importance 
than  mere  ropes. 


IN  A   COLLISION  275 

These  experiences  were  followed  by  a  realisation 
that  our  stern  had  swung  round,  and  that,  broad- 
side to  the  stream,  we  were  drifting  by  the  still 
motionless  smack.  Please  understand  that  the 
spirit  of  philosophical  contemplation  in  which  I 
had  awaited  the  collision,  did  not  survive  its 
occurrence.  To  say  truth,  we  were  three  suffi- 
ciently distraught  figures  as,  not  yet  knowing 
what  had  happened,  we  blundered  aimlessly  about 
the  limp  wreckage  by  which  our  deck  was  strewn. 
Poor  old  Gotty  uttered  lamentations  in  a  broken 
voice.  The  mate  was  fumbling  and  staring  and 
seemed  to  have  lost  his  tongue.  I  was  whining 
for  information  as  to  the  extent  of  the  damage. 

"  I  dunno,"  Gotty  gasped.  "  Topmast's  down 
—broke  in  two  pieces.  Look  'ere ! "  and  he 
lifted  the  fractured  end  of  a  length  of  wood 
sufficiently  bulky,  on  falling  from  so  considerable 
an  elevation,  to  have  brained  an  elephant.  "  No, 
you  never  ! "  he  shouted  with  great  controversial 
warmth,  in  reply  to  an  observation  that  came 
from  the  smack. 

"  We  did  holler  to  you  ! "  reiterated  the  Rye 
fisherman,  in  a  voice  that  quavered  with  emotion. 

"  Not  till  we  were  right  ath'art  you,  you  didn't !  " 
Gotty  sprang  to  the  side  and  howled  back  in  angry 
denial.  "  What's  best  to  be  done  ?  "  he  turned 
to  the  mate  and  inquired.  "  Better  drop  the 
anchor,  'adn't  we,  and  see  what's  the  damage  ?  " 

Cole,  without  pausing  to  discuss  the  point, 
floundered  aft  and  released  the  chain.  The  next 
minute  I — even  I — perceived  that  a  grievous  error 


276     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

had  been  committed.  There  we  lay  tied  and 
helpless,  scarce  more  than  a  vessel's  length  from 
the  smack,  whose  bowsprit  was  pointing  straight 
for  us.  At  any  moment  the  rising  tide  might  float 
her,  and  under  that  towering  array  of  sails  she 
would  bear  down  upon  us  with  a  weighty  mo- 
mentum that  our  poor  little  craft  must  prove 
powerless  to  withstand. 

"  Git  it  up  1  Git  it  up  sharp  ! "  cried  Gotty, 
when  I  called  his  attention  to  our  peril.  He 
leapt  to  the  tiller,  and,  having  lashed  it  to  one 
side,  set  about  extracting  a  long  oar  from  the 
wreckage  on  our  deck.  Cole  meanwhile  was 
desperately  groping  for  a  handspike.  At  last  he 
found  one,  and  got  to  work  on  the  windlass. 

"  'Urry  up,  fer  Gawd's  sake  ! "  urged  Gotty,  as 
he  laboured  at  the  oar  to  swing  our  stern  round. 

"  If  you  don't  clear  out,  you'll  cop  it  a  blank 
sight  worse  ! "  thundered  a  voice  from  the  smack. 
"  You've  no  business  to  come  in  here  at  all 
without  a  pilot." 

The  speaker  had  but  paused  momentarily  from 
participation  in  labours,  involving  much  struggling 
and  snouting,  in  which  the  crew  of  the  smack 
were  seeking  to  safeguard  their  own  interests. 
Their  dinghey  was  carrying  a  tow-rope  to  a  lantern- 
bearer  who  came  running  to  the  rescue  along  the 
footway  of  a  dam  ;  and,  I  should  mention,  it  was 
a  cross  current  caused  by  the  heavy  fall  of  water 
over  that  dam  which  made  Gotty's  task  so 
formidable. 

Failing  to  find  the  second  handspike,  I  sought 


IN   A   COLLISION  277 

to  assist  Cole  with  the  broken  handle  of  an  oar, 
for  the  sound  of  his  toil  was  ominously  lacking  in 
rhythm  and  vitality.  Nor,  as  my  unsuitable  in- 
strument kept  jamming,  did  I  materially  expedite 
the  operation.  It  was  mightily  disconcerting,  on 
looking  up  from  our  feverish  fumbling,  to  note 
the  great  brown  menace  looming  down  upon  us. 

From  Gotty's  querulous  reproaches,  it  might 
have  been  inferred  that  he  thought  we  were  doing 
the  job  slowly  on  purpose.  The  nerves  of  all 
three,  it  must  be  confessed,  were  unstrung. 

At  last  the  Betty  swung  round,  with  the  anchor 
up.  Yet,  her  sailing  gear  all  collapsed,  she  proved 
so  unresponsive  to  the  helm  that  Gotty,  in  a  tone 
of  rugged  urgency,  bade  Cole  get  into  the  dinghey 
and  tow  her. 

In  his  precipitancy  Cole  rowed  the  dinghey 
stern  foremost ;  but  that  way  served,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  we  had  moved  away  from  the 
still  stationary  smack. 

Arriving  at  the  jetties,  we — at  the  suggestion 
of  a  mild  official  who,  in  the  name  of  harbour  dues, 
came  to  claim  is.  6d. — berthed  beside  a  group  of 
smacks.  Gotty  was  for  the  sixth  time  telling  the 
story  of  our  woes  to  sympathisers  who  came  in 
rowing  boats  for  the  news,  when  our  great  brown- 
sailed  enemy  went  gliding  by. 

"  Don't  tell  lies ! "  roared  the  voice  we  had 
heard  before.  "  We  did  holler  out  to  you." 

"No,  you  never,"  Gotty  bellowed  back,  "not 
afore  it  was  too  late." 

A  rankling  memory  for   me   was  the  old   Rye 


278     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

fisherman's  impertinent  suggestion  that  we  ought 
to  carry  a  pilot  ;  and,  stooping  to  a  tardy  tu  quoque, 
I  raised  my  voice  to  advise  our  deep-throated  foe 
that,  when  next  he  entered  his  own  harbour,  he 
should  carry  one  of  those  useful  auxiliaries. 

On  overhauling  the  Betty,  Gotty  discovered  that 
the  only  serious  damage  was  the  snapping  of  our 
topmast.  Yet  I  found  that  neither  he  nor  the 
mate  had  any  inclination  for  supper. 

"  I  couldn't  fancy  anythin',"  deplored  the  skipper. 
"  I  reg'lar  feel  all  of  a  tremble." 

"  Not  for  me,  thank  you,  sir,"  moaned  the 
mate.  "  It's  made  me  feel  sick.  I  tell  you,  my 
heart  was  in  my  mouth  all  the  time.  I  wouldn't 
go  through  that  again  for  fifty  pounds." 

"  Oh,"  I  laughed,  setting  them  a  healthy  example 
with  biscuits  and  cheese,  "  I  wouldn't  have  missed 
it  for  a  hundred.  Sit  down  and  don't  be  a  couple 
of  silly  duffers  ; "  and  the  end  of  it  was  that  we 
joined  in  a  hearty  repast,  and  afterwards  played 
dominoes. 

Next  morning  we  discovered  that  none  of  the 
Rye  shipbuilders  had  a  topmast  of  our  size,  and 
that  to  have  one  made  would  involve  a  con- 
siderable expenditure  of  time,  not  to  mention 
money.  So  (the  careful  Guv'nor  having  his  bag 
of  tools  on  board)  we  bought  ten  shillings'  worth 
of  fir  tree,  and  set  about  making  our  own  topmast. 
It  took  all  the  morning  to  scrape  off  the  bark,  and 
the  rest  of  the  day  we  devoted  to  chiselling  out 
the  necessary  holes,  grooves,  and  recesses,  and 
fixing  the  fittings  thereto. 


IN   A   COLLISION  279 

During  the  last  three  hours  I  toiled  alone,  my 
shipmates  having  withdrawn  for  rest  and  refresh- 
ment to  a  neighbouring  ale-house. 

Thus  the  owner,  whom  the  Board  of  Trade 
certified  as  skipper,  had  now  served  as  mate, 
been  appointed  pilot,  and  given  proof  of  his 
powers  as  a  shipwright.  For  it  was  an  excellent 
topmast,  though  I  say  it  who  perhaps  should  not. 


XXIII 

LOST   IN   A   FOG 

To  save  time,  trouble,  and  lawyers'  fees,  I  sat  as 
judge  and  jury  to  settle  the  question  of  liability 
raised  by  the  collision  ;  and  the  finding  of  the 
court  was  that  there  had  been  no  proper  look-out 
on  the  damaged  vessel,  whose  crew,  it  was  held, 
were  under  the  stronger  necessity  to  be  vigilant  as 
— in  order  to  profit  by  the  experience  of  the 
defendants,  without  rendering  any  payment  for 
the  service — they  deliberately  came  skulking  into 
harbour  at  the  tail  of  the  other  craft. 

Thus  when,  at  eleven  o'clock  next  morning,  we 
had  spliced  our  broken  ropes,  hoisted  the  new 
topmast,  and  re-rigged  the  Betty,  I  knew  of  no 
reason,  the  tide  having  just  turned,  why  we  should 
not  straightway  set  sail.  Gotty's  plea  for  delay — 
based  on  our  need  of  water  and  bread,  and  the 
honourable  obligation  under  which  we  lay  to  re- 
turn a  borrowed  scraping-iron — was  easy  to  brush 
aside.  Gliding  down  the  water-way,  we  hailed  a 
lad  in  a  boat,  and  gave  him  sixpence  to  take  back 
the  tool  with  our  compliments. 

A  calm  prevailing,  we  engineered  a  safe  exit  to 
the  open  sea  with  Gotty  and  I  labouring  at  the 


280 


LOST   IN   A   FOG  281 

Betty's  long  oars,  and  the  mate  towing  her  in  the 
dinghey — perspiring  toil  in  that  September  sun- 
shine. Thereafter  we  floated  softly  to  the  west, 
gazing  with  approbation  at  the  southern  margin  of 
our  native  land. 

A  gentle  breeze  coming  to  our  assistance  anon, 
at  tea-time  we  dropped  anchor  outside  the  un- 
finished harbour  walls  of  Hastings,  and  Gotty  and 
I  rowed  ashore  for  supplies. 

Our  coming  was  awaited  by  a  group  of  robust 
lads  who,  when  we  grated  on  the  beach,  were 
unanimous  in  pleading  for  permission  to  mind  our 
boat.  It  was  a  prayer  to  which  my  skipper,  with 
a  lively  sense  of  the  superfluous,  was  wont  to 
return  an  unhesitating  reply  in  the  negative.  In 
doing  so  on  this  occasion  he  somewhat  enlarged 
upon  aspects  of  the  matter  that  presented  them- 
selves to  his  mind. 

"We  don't  want  none  o'  you  young  warmints 
pullin'  our  punt  ter  pieces.  So  don't  you  go 
anywheres  nigh  'er,  d'yer  see  ?  She's  a  lot  more 
likely  to  come  to  'urt  with  some  of  you  aboard 
than  what  she  would  be  without  yer.  So  you  jest 
leave  'er  be." 

Uttering  "  Boo  !  "  and  other  hostile  comments, 
the  youth  of  Hastings  retired  to  a  discreet  dis- 
tance, whence  with  unfeeling  laughter  they 
watched  Gotty's  efforts,  which  were  not  immedi- 
ately crowned  with  success,  to  tether  our  boat 
to  a  stone  :  we  having  lost  our  punt's  anchor 
when  fishing  off  Copt  Point. 

Gotty  shouldering  our  cask,  we  set  off  for  the 


282     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

fisherman's  well,  of  which  I  retained  from  child- 
hood the  recollection  that  it  was   inscribed  with 
the  admonition,  "  Waste  not,  want  not."     Several 
minutes  were  occupied  in  journeying  thither,  fill- 
ing our  beaker,  and  returning  ;   and  the  sight  that 
met  our  gaze  when  we  reached  the  summit  of  the 
beach  caused   us   to  take   long   strides  down  the 
broad   slope   of    yielding    shingle.     Our   dinghey, 
adrift  from  the  stone,   had   already   reached   the 
wall,  against  which  she  was  in  imminent  peril  of 
receiving  injury  ;   and  the  youngsters  were  asquat 
in  a  long  row,  feasting  their  eyes  on  the  spectacle. 
So  it  was  arranged  that  Gotty  should  remain  in 
the  boat  while  I  went   into  the  town  for  bread, 
apples,  and  bait.     Difficulty  arose  under  the  third 
head  of  my  responsibilities.     Following  many  vain 
applications,  made   at   a  venture,   I  was   referred 
to  a  bronzed  and  bearded  individual  who,  given 
the  advantage  of  a  university  education,  would,  I 
should   think,  have   made   a   successful   company 
promoter.     He  produced  a  handkerchief  of  dead 
worms    which,    he    explained,   were    a    halfpenny 
each,   that   being  what  they   cost   him.      Having 
done  business  to  the  extent  of  fivepence  with  the 
unscrupulous    old    longshoreman,    I    returned    to 
Gotty,  whom  I  found — apparently  as  the  outcome 
of    further   dealings   with   the    juveniles  —  full   of 
gloomy  misgivings  concerning  Hastings'  future. 

After  catching  an  eel,  I  turned  in,  leaving  Gotty 
the  option  of  staying  at  anchor  off  Hastings  till 
daylight,  or  moving  westward  on  the  turn  of  the 
tide.  For  note  how  simple,  in  certain  situations, 


LOST   IN   A   FOG  283 

are  the  duties  of  a  pilot.  Having  told  them  to 
give  the  shore  a  berth,  to  keep  the  Beachy  Head 
flashlight  over  their  starboard  bow,  and  on  no 
account  to  run  into  any  other  craft,  I  sought 
my  couch  with  the  comfortable  knowledge  that, 
if  those  simple  directions  were  followed,  my  ship- 
mates could  sail  for  hours  without  needing  any 
further  assistance  from  me. 

At  2  A.M.  the  pilot  was  sitting  up  in  bed 
absolutely  nonplussed  by  the  sounds  and  sensa- 
tions to  which  he  had  just  awakened.  That  we 
were  moving,  and  moving  in  the  lightest  of  winds, 
was  attested  by  the  free,  languorous  swaying  and 
pitching  of  the  vessel.  But  what,  in  the  name  of 
bewilderment,  was  that  roar  of  breaking  water  ? 
The  only  conjecture  that  my  brain  could  yield 
was  one  vaguely  identifying  the  noise  with  some 
waterfall  or  cataract  of  which  both  I  and  the 
compilers  of  my  navigation-book  were  unaccount- 
ably ignorant.  Yet  the  spasmodic  character  of 
the  splashing,  and  the  quality  of  perspective  in  the 
sound — as  of  one  watery  upheaval  near  and  others 
further  away — gave  denial  to  that  hypothesis. 

On  scrambling  to  the  hold  opening  I  looked 
upon  a  scene  in  which  peace  and  tumult  were 
marvellously  associated.  In  a  clear,  calm  night, 
with  a  full  moon,  the  surrounding  sea  shone  to 
a  remote  distance  as  a  rippled  plane  of  silver,  save 
where — here,  there,  and  beyond — it  uprose  in 
fountains  of  commotion,  and  ink-black  portions 
of  some  great  living  creature  protruded  for  a 
moment  in  the  sparkling  confusion  of  water. 


284     GOTTY    AND   THE   GUVNOR 

The  bawley  was  sailing  through  a  shoal  of 
porpoises,  and  all  those  great  splashings,  in  the 
splendour  of  that  lonely  sea,  held  some  property 
in  a  sublime  enchantment.  Gotty  had  turned  in, 
and  I  found  the  mate,  a  silent,  still  figure  at  the 
helm,  under  the  spell  of  that  glorious  scene.  He 
spoke  in  an  awed  whisper  of  the  mighty  blow- 
fish. 

At  daybreak  we  found  ourselves  still  to  the  east 
of  Beachy  Head,  and  it  was  not  long  before, 
wind  being  wanting,  we  anchored  to  avoid  being 
set  back  by  the  tide,  Gotty  utilising  some  portion 
of  his  leisure  in  the  compounding  of  a  currant 
duff.  Nor,  when  opportunity  for  proof  arrived, 
could  Cole  and  I  withhold  warm  commendation 
of  the  outcome  of  his  culinary  industry. 

"  Well,"  the  skipper's  modesty  permitted  him  to 
observe,  "  a  bit  of  puddin'  like  that  stands  by  yer, 
don't  it  ?  " 

It  was,  I  found,  even  so.  Nay,  sweets  on  a 
bawley  being  served  before  meat  and  vegetables 
(though  all  are  cooked  simultaneously  in  one 
saucepan),  I  found  myself,  after  demonstrating 
approval  of  Gotty's  pudding,  looking  with  small 
favour  on  the  meat  which,  with  its  gnarled 
embroidery  of  fat,  lay  beside  steaming  potatoes 
in  (for  the  skipper  turned  all  things  to  account) 
my  large  photographic  bath.  His  perplexity  at 
my  failure  to  follow  two  healthy  examples  was  the 
greater  because,  as  he  explained,  it  was  the  best 
salted  scrag,  and  he  had  been  at  the  pains  to  tie  a 
piece  of  rope  around  the  same,  and  tow  it  astern 


LOST   IN   A   FOG  285 

for  a  dozen  miles  or  so,  the  more  surely  to  minimise 
its  saline  properties. 

A  breeze  presently  coming  to  our  assistance,  we 
ran  to  Beachy  Head,  and  the  sight  of  that  dreary 
stretch  of  shingle  prompted  Cole  to  do  what,  in  our 
experience  of  him,  he  had  never  done  before,  and 
never  did  again.  He  told  a  story. 

"  During  that  March  blizzard  a  few  years  ago," 
he  related,  "  some  of  our  fishermen  got  ashore 
over  there.  It  was  daytime,  but  it  was  so  thick 
they  didn't  know  where  they  were,  and  hadn't  any 
idea  land  was  near  till  they  went  aground." 

"  Was  the  wessel  lost  ? "  asked  Gotty,  always 
impatient  to  know  the  worst. 

"  No ;  she  was  got  off  a  few  days  afterwards. 
But  you  may  know  what  the  weather  was  like, 
for  one  of  the  coastguards,  who  must  have  started 
to  try  and  walk  down  to  them,  was  found  dead 
next  day,  half  buried  in  the  snow.  When  they 
got  ashore  they  climbed  up  the  bank,  which  was 
all  snow,  and  then  they  started  this  way  and  that 
way,  one  of  them  getting  up  to  his  waist  in  water  ; 
and  afterwards  they  found  his  boots  was  full  of 
hob  nails." 

"Full  o'  what  ?"  asked  the  perplexed  skipper. 

"  You  know  them  little  black  things  swimming 
about  in  ponds — big  heads  and  all  the  rest  tail." 

"  Tadpoles  ?  "   I  suggested. 

"That's  it,"  said  Cole.  "Well,  the  pore  chaps 
walked  miles  and  miles — hours  they  were  at  it,  and 
nearly  perished  with  cold.  At  last  they  came  to  a 
house  with  a  light  in  it,  and  they  knocked,  and 


286     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

asked  for  a  cup  of  hot  tea.  But,  would  you 
believe  it,  the  people  said  '  No,'  and  sent  them 
away." 

"  Them  parties  ought  to  'ave  six  months  ! "  was 
Gotty's  indignant  interjection. 

"  They  had  to  walk  all  the  way  to  Seaford,  and 
the  first  person  they  saw  was  a  shopkeeper  stand- 
ing at  his  door.  He  asked  them  who  they  were 
and  where  they'd  come  from,  and  when  they  told 
him  he  made  them  come  inside  by  the  fire,  and 
gave  them  plenty  to  eat  and  drink,  and  did  all  he 
could  for  them." 

"  Don't  that  jest  show  you  the  dif'rence  between 
people,"  exclaimed  Gotty,  his  further  comments  on 
the  varied  character  of  human  nature  being  in- 
terrupted by  a  sudden  appreciation  of  the  fact 
that  a  welcome  breeze  was  springing  up.  Ten 
minutes  later,  indeed,  we  were  making  steady 
progress  towards  Newhaven,  and  I  was  instructing 
my  mind  as  to  features  of  that  harbour.  But  I 
did  not  then  know  which  local  fact,  among  the 
many  supplied  by  the  chart  and  book,  was  destined 
to  prove  the  one  sure  and  indispensable  guide  to 
our  destination. 

Sailing  in  clear  sunshine,  we  heard  distant  fog 
signals,  only  to  wonder  what  they  could  mean. 
But  soon  a  great  fog  bank  had  blown  up  and 
enveloped  us  in  its  wet  whiteness.  With  the 
coast  all  blotted  out,  and  our  outlook  restricted  to 
a  few  yards  of  indistinct  sea,  we  fetched  up  the 
compass  and  started  to  blow  our  dismal  horn. 
For  miles  we  groped  our  uncertain  way,  and  once 


LOST   IN   A   FOG  287 

— putting  a  little  premature  north  in  our  course, 
from  a  belief  that  Newhaven  must  surely  be  near — 
we  came  within  sound  of  waves  breaking  on  the 
beach,  and  had  to  put  about  in  guilty  haste. 

The  pilot,  you  will  observe,  had  lost  touch  with 
the  position  of  his  vessel.  That  is  where  steam- 
boats, with  the  mechanical  regularity  of  their 
propelling  machinery,  have  such  an  advantage. 
To  ascertain  just  how  fast  a  sailing  craft  has 
travelled,  through  tidal  variations  and  in  a  change- 
able wind,  is  a  matter,  if  the  reader  will  accept  my 
word  for  it,  largely  of  guesswork.  Yet  I  dare  say 
that  is  where  a  little  experience  and  training  come 
in  useful  to  a  pilot. 

During  a  fog,  my  invaluable  book  stated,  a  single 
blast  is  sounded  every  thirty  seconds  from  the  head 
of  Newhaven  breakwater.  Watch  in  hand  I  sought, 
from  amid  the  tangled  clamour  of  horns,  to  detect 
that  local  signal.  Standing  out  from  all  the  other 
moanings  was  a  strenuous  blast  repeated  four  times 
in  sixty  seconds.  Timing  those  sounds  again  and 
again,  I  discovered  that  while  the  minute  invariably 
contained  them  all,  there  was  a  want  of  uniformity 
in  the  intervals  dividing  them.  Bringing  my  obser- 
vation to  a  further  'perfection,  I  was  able  to  dis- 
sociate the  blasts  into  two  distinct  pairs  ;  and 
attributing  one  pair  (now  becoming  less  emphatic) 
to  an  ingoing  steamer,  I  was  able  to  identify  the 
other  pair  (growing  more  audible,  and  of  precise 
recurrence  every  thirty  seconds)  as  unmistakably 
the  breakwater  signal. 

For  that  sound,  then,  we  steered,  and  anon  the 


288     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

extremity  of  the  great  wall  loomed  upon  us  out  of 
the  fog.  A  run  to  the  north  brought  us  to  the 
head  of  the  east  pier,  whence  a  short  north-west 
slant  revealed  the  head  of  the  west  pier  ;  and  thus 
we  entered  Newhaven's  fine  harbour,  which  in  its 
upper  reaches  proved  free  from  fog. 

While  Gotty  and  Cole  were  berthing  the  Betty 
alongside  a  great  Norwegian  barque,  I  gave 
audience  to  a  couple  of  courteous  officials  who 
came  alongside  in  their  rowing  boats.  One 
readily  accepted  the  honest  word  of  a  fisherman 
that  we  had  no  excisable  commodities  to  declare. 
The  other  merely  desired  twopence,  this  being  the 
most  modest  claim  for  harbour  dues  in  all  our 
voyage. 

On  landing — to  touch  briefly  upon  a  matter  of 
domestic  rather  than  nautical  interest — Gotty  and 
I,  as  the  outcome  of  some  earnest  consultations  in 
which  we  had  privily  engaged,  set  forth  to  do 
some  shopping  of  more  than  ordinary  importance. 
His  reports  to  me  of  an  element  of  unrest  in  the 
cabin  had  been  frequent  and  bitter  ;  and  while  he 
mentioned  no  names,  and,  indeed,  scrupulously 
abstained  from  expressing  any  personal  suspicions 
that  might  or  might  not  lurk  in  the  recesses  of  his 
mind,  he  made  no  secret  of  his  conviction  that 
they  were  Folkestone  fleas. 

While  incidentally  mentioning  a  pennyworth  of 
powder,  his  main  proposal,  as  the  remedy  com- 
manding his  confidence  in  fullest  measure,  was 
six-pennyworth  of  sulphur,  to  be  left  burning 
under  closed  hatches. 


LOST   IN    A  FOG  289 

To  purchase  the  suggested  quantity  of  that 
mineral  we  visited  a  leading  grocery  establish- 
ment in  Newhaven's  main  thoroughfare,  my 
companion  stating  our  requirements,  and  I  goad- 
ing him  on  to  take  that  manly  course  ;  for,  be 
it  understood,  on  finding  several  other  customers 
in  that  spacious  and  brightly  lighted  emporium,  a 
diffidence  arose  from  a  sense  of  what  we  wanted 
the  article  for. 

Having  secured  the  sulphur,  Gotty  was  on  the 
point  of  precipitate  exit  when  I  held  him  back 
with  urgent  arguments  on  the  importance  of 
making  doubly  sure.  Nor  was  this  appeal  to 
his  better  self  made  in  vain,  for  he  screwed  up 
his  courage  to  return  to  the  counter,  and — as  I 
inferred  from  the  furtive  way  in  which  he  leaned 
across  that  obstruction — whisper  his  further  need 
to  the  obliging  shopman. 

After  we  had  beat  a  retreat  down  the  road, 
Gotty,  recovering  from  the  awkward  sense  that 
everybody  was  looking  at  him,  betrayed  a  legiti- 
mate pride  in  the  complete  measure  of  success 
that  had  attended  our  expedition. 

"  They  give  yer  a  tidy  lot  for  a  penny,  not  'alf 
they  don't,"  he  remarked  with  gratification,  as, 
there  being  no  inquisitive  folk  about,  he  drew 
the  precious  packet  from  his  pocket.  "And  tell 
yer  'ow  ter  sprinkle  it  about,  seemin'ly,"  he  added, 
making  a  shrewd  guess  at  the  purport  of  all  the 
little  print  which,  by  the  light  of  a  street  lamp,  he 
observed  on  the  label. 

Taking  it  from  him,  I  read,  instead,  in  one  of 

T 


290     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

the  most  embarrassing  moments  of  my  life,  how 
many  spoonfuls  should  go  in  a  stew,  and  the 
precise  quantity  needed  for  thickening  soup. 
And,  indeed,  "  Pea  Powder "  bears  so  close  an 
acoustic  resemblance  to  the  article  Gotty  had 
asked  for,  that  the  mistake  was  one  easy  to  make. 
But  both  of  us  lacked  the  fortitude  to  go  back  and 
get  it  rectified.  We  were  content  to  concentrate 
our  hopes  on  sulphur. 

The  measures  taken  by  my  skipper  were  simple, 
scientific,  and — as  time  was  to  show — successful. 
Having  stuffed  an  old  shirt  in  the  flue,  he  ignited 
his  remedy  on  an  iron  plate  in  the  cabin,  and, 
abruptly  emerging  thence,  put  on  the  top  and 
screened  all  apertures.  To  give  the  imprisoned 
fumes  ample  opportunity  to  do  what  was  expected 
of  them,  the  cabin  was  left  thus  sealed  till  the 
morrow. 

Gotty  and  Cole,  declining  my  hospitable  offer  of 
floor  space  in  the  hold,  slept  that  night  on  deck.  . 


HE   SCREWED   UP   HIS   COURAGE  TO   RETURN   TO   THE  COUNTER  AND 
— WHISPER    HIS    FURTHER    NEED   TO   THE   OBLIGING   SHOPMAN. 


XXIV 

THE    SCHOONER'S    PERIL 

NEXT  night,  in  the  absence  of  wind,  we  anchored 
off  Brighton,  Gotty  and  I  going  ashore  to  visit 
the  Aquarium,  where,  besides  being  weighed,  he 
saw  his  first  alligator,  and  was  equally  awed  by 
an  electric  Lady  of  Mystery. 

On  the  following  morning  we  resumed  our 
voyage  in  a  haze  ;  the  day  yielding  some  anxious 
experiences  in  navigation.  Ere  we  reached  Wor- 
thing I  had  read  myself  into  so  lively  a  dread  of 
Selsey  Bill  that  I  directed  my  skipper  to  shape  a 
south-westerly  course,  and  not  deviate  therefrom 
until  we  sighted  the  Owers  light-ship.  I  knew  the 
distance,  but  had  to  ask  how  fast  we  were 
travelling. 

At  first  Gotty  replied  in  knots — a  measure  with 
which  his  pilot  did  not  happen  to  be  familiar. 

"Can't  you  tell  me,"  I  asked,  "how  many  miles 
an  hour  we  are  going  ?  " 

"  It  can't  be  fur  off  five,"  the  skipper  certified 
after  due  rumination.  "  It's  more  than  four  and 
charnse  it." 

Making  a  careful  calculation  on  the  basis  of 
four  and  a-half,  I  announced  that,  assuming  uni- 


292     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

formity  in  our  rate  of  progress,  we  should  see  the 
light-ship  at  about  midday. 

At  2  P.M.  we  were  still  looking  for  it,  and  my 
credit  as  a  pilot  stood  in  gravest  jeopardy.  Since 
one  o'clock  my  skipper  had  been  full  of  mutinous 
mutterings  concerning  the  foolishness  of  not  going 
more  directly  westward.  Nay,  I  had  found  it 
useful  to  keep  my  own  eye  on  the  compass,  to  be 
able,  every  now  and  then,  to  call  his  attention  to 
what  may  have  been  unconscious  deviations  in  the 
direction  he  thought  preferable. 

At  half-past  two  I  caught  Gotty  and  Cole  ex- 
changing confidences  with  significant  grins,  and 
I  noted  the  latter  shrugging  his  shoulders.  At  a 
quarter  to  three  the  situation  had  entered  a  still 
more  uncomfortable  phase.  A  cold  silence  had 
fallen  upon  the  Betty,  and  when  I  detected  Gotty 
regarding  me,  with  an  expression  of  repressed 
amusement,  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye,  he 
ostentatiously  turned  away  and  whistled. 

"  We  certainly  are  a  long  time  coming  to  the 
light-ship,"  I  presently  admitted,  my  eyes  tired  of 
scanning  the  unprofitable  horizon,  and  a  sense  of 
incompetence  and  failure  beginning  to  tell  upon 
my  spirits. 

"  If  they  ain't  took  it  off  the  road,"  replied  the 
skipper,  allowing  himself  to  be  facetious,  "we 
must  'ave  gorn  by  that  vessel  two  howers  ago,  and 
most  likely  ten  mile  to  the  south'ard  of  'er." 

"  What  do  you  say  ? "  I  turned  to  Cole  and 
miserably  inquired. 

"  Oh,    we've    passed    her    right    enough,"     he 


THE  SCHOONER'S   PERIL        293 

replied,  with  a  complacency  which  seemed  to  me 
uncalled  for. 

Poor  pilot !  He  could  no  longer  resist  the 
evidence.  And  how  much  wider  the  scope  of 
this  discomfiture  than  his  shipmates  knew.  For 
he  at  least  realised  that,  having  so  completely 
failed  where  all  factors  in  the  situation  seemed  so 
plain,  he  could  trust  himself  no  further  in  the 
business  of  navigation. 

Nor  could  I  find  any  consolation  on  carefully 
remeasuring  the  distance  on  my  chart. 

"  It's  only  about  fifteen  miles,"  I  once  more 
stated,  "  from  Worthing  to  the  Owers." 

"  And  we've  come  thirty,"  was  Gotty's  indignant 
reply,  "  if  we  ain't  come  more." 

"  On  this  course  I  thought  we  should  be  certain 
to  see  the  light-ship." 

"  You  thought !  Yes,  but — "  he  began,  ex- 
plosively, checking  himself  and  adding,  in  a  voice 
merely  reproachful :  "  Didn't  I  keep  tellin'  yer  we 
was  too  fur  to  the  south'ard  ?  On'y  you  would 
know  best." 

The  resulting  silence  was  broken  by  Gotty. 

"Why,"  he  exclaimed,  as  his  eagle  eye  took 
cognisance  of  a  speck  on  the  horizon,  "  there's 
one  of  them  light-vessels." 

"  I  suppose,"  was  my  lame  comment,  "  it  can't 
be  the  one  we  are  looking  for  ?  " 

"  The  one  we  ain't  lookin'  for,  don't  you 
mean  ? "  he  retorted  brusquely.  "  'Ow  can  it  be 
the  one  when  we  must  'ave  gorn  by  it  howers  ago 
— and  this  'ere  light  miles  ahead  on  us  ! " 


294     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

And,  indeed,  though  that  was  no  tone  in  which 
to  address  a  pilot,  my  suggestion  seemed,  on  his 
presentation  of  the  facts,  sufficiently  improbable. 
So  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  search  my 
sources  of  information  for  a  light-vessel  situated 
south-west  of  the  Owers.  But  obviously  they 
had  not  put  it  on  the  chart  ;  and  I  was  constrained 
to  make  humble  confession  that  I  did  not  know 
where  we  were. 

"  H'm  !     Nice  thing  !  "     Gotty  snorted. 

"  Couldn't  you  manage  to  run  near  that  barge," 
I  suggested,  "  and  ask  the  name  of  the  light-ship 
we  are  coming  to  ?  " 

"  It  ain't  a  barge.  That's  a  ketch.  But  I 
don't  know  as  that  wouldn't  be  the  best  thing  to 
do  ; "  and  he  handled  the  tiller  accordingly. 

The  reply  to  my  skipper's  leather-lungs  was 
dramatic  indeed. 

"  Yon's  th'Owers ! "  was  the  deep-toned  and 
surprised  explanation  of  a  broad  and  massive  man, 
who  seemed  perilously  near  an  attack  of  unseemly 
mirth  at  finding  a  mariner  of  Gotty's  aspect  and 
inches  so  completely  at  sea. 

Doing  a  little  rapid  arithmetic  on  the  back  of 
an  envelope,  I  pointed  out,  for  the  general  in- 
struction of  my  shipmates,  that  since  leaving 
Worthing  we  had  been  travelling,  on  an  average, 
at  the  rate  of  about  two  and  a-half  miles  an 
hour. 

"  Yer  see,"  Gotty  explained,  "  it's  the  tide 
reg'lar  draws  yer  back,  so  you  might  fancy  a 
wessel  was  movin'  a  lot  faster  than  what  she  is." 


THE   SCHOONER'S  PERIL        295 

"  We  were  laying  true  enough  for  the  light-ship 
after  all,"  observed  Cole. 

"  The  Guv'nor  was  right,  and  we  was  wrong. 
There  you  are  !  "  exclaimed  the  skipper  ;  and  this 
was  so  handsome  a  recognition  of  the  facts  that, 
reinstated  with  strengthened  authority  in  my 
office  of  pilot,  I — by  way  of  demonstrating  a 
willingness  to  let  bygones  be  bygones — busied 
myself  in  dishing  up  the  delayed  dinner. 

Nor  had  that  meal  drawn  to  a  conclusion  ere 
a  new  interest  was  sprung  upon  us.  Having  done 
his  duty  by  the  meat,  Gotty  was  midway  in  a 
second  serving  of  potatoes  when  his  alert  eye 
detected  an  object  intermittently  bobbing  into 
sight  amid  broken  water  away  to  the  north-west. 

"  Ain't  that  a  punt  bottom-up  ! "  he  cried,  not  a 
little  excited.  "  I  lay  it  is.  A  white  bottom  fresh 
painted,  seemin'ly — wery  likely  got  adrift  from 
one  of  them  big  yachts.  Worth  a  pound  or  two 
— a  punt  like  that  is.  Ain't  this  all  right  ?  "  and, 
without  more  ado,  he  pulled  our  dinghey  along- 
side, got  into  her,  unlashed  the  rope,  and  set  off 
to  row  with  a  zeal  which  revealed  a  determination 
to  secure  the  prize  ere  it  attracted  the  covetous 
eye  of  some  less  deserving  mariner  ;  and  indeed 
several  vessels  were  visible  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  light-ship. 

Gazing  after  the  receding  boat  as  we  peacefully 
concluded  our  repast,  Cole  and  I  experienced  a 
sense  of  disappointment,  heavily  charged  with 
mystification,  when  Gotty,  on  coming  within 
speaking  distance  of  his  goal,  abruptly  altered  his 


296     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

course,  and  started  rowing  back  with,  apparently, 
augmented  energy. 

He  having  returned  to  the  Betty 's  vicinity  with- 
out vouchsafing  any  relief  to  our  curiosity,  I 
assailed  his  tantalising  taciturnity  with  a  definite 
question. 

"  It  warn't  a  punt,"  he  indignantly  replied — 
"  only  one  o'  them  porpoises.  Talk  about  dead 
— phuff  !  it  fair  hollers.  But  don't  you  'ear  'em 
blowin'  a  fog-'orn  on  that  light-ship  ?  What's  it 
for,  I  wonder.  The  weather  ain't  so  thick  as 
all  that." 

This  enigma  defied  our  efforts  to  solve  it  during 
the  half-hour  that  the  Betty  occupied  in  making 
her  slow  way  to  the  scene  of  these  mysterious 
moanings.  Strict  obedience  to  printed  instruction 
would  have  involved  our  going  to  the  south  of  the 
light-ship ;  but,  observing  two  vessels  of  superior 
tonnage  on  the  land  side,  Gotty,  with  some  idea 
of  taking  a  short  cut,  also  passed  her  on  the 
north. 

Within  biscuit  throw  of  the  Trinity  boat,  we 
gazed  up  at  her  as  we  went  by,  vainly  seeking  to 
satisfy  ourselves  why  she  invaded  the  serenity  of  a 
summer  afternoon  with  her  dolorous  horn,  when, 
marvel  on  marvel  !  a  tongue  of  crimson  flame 
shot  from  her  bulwarks,  billows  of  smoke  un- 
folded above  its  line  of  passage,  and  our  ears  were 
stunned  by  a  cannon's  roar. 

"  It's  that  schooner  they're  firing  for,  isn't  it  ?  " 
was  the  anxious  inquiry  shouted  to  us  from  a 
two-master  tacking  across  our  bow. 


THE   SCHOONER'S  PERIL         297 

"That's  it,  mate/'  Gotty  replied,  in  a  great 
assured  voice  which  seemed  to  suggest,  not  merely 
that  he  knew  all  about  it,  but  that  he  was  quite 
used  to  that  sort  of  thing. 

The  stranger's  inquiry  had  put  us  in  the  way  of 
knowledge.  We  now  looked  with  eyes  of  under- 
standing at  the  three-masted  schooner  which, 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  inside  of  us, 
had  ominous  breakers  astern,  and,  with  all  sails 
bent,  was  heading  eastward  with  no  observable 
sign  of  progress.  Was  the  light  breeze  bearing 
her  forward  to  deep  water,  or  was  the  tide  carry- 
ing her  back  ?  We  could  not  tell.  Apparently 
she  lay  stationary  between  those  conflicting  forces. 
Yet  either  wind  or  water  was  doubtless  gaining 
the  mastery  by  crucial  inches. 

"  But,"  I  exclaimed  in  my  ignorance,  "  if  she  is 
going  on  to  the  sands,  what  good  do  the  Trinity 
people  think  they  are  doing  by  firing  to  her  ?  " 

"  Why,  don't  yer  see,"  cried  Gotty,  "  they  want 
'im  ter  drop  'is  anchor.  Then  when  the  tide  turns 
she'll  git  off  all  right." 

"  Why,  of  course  ;  and  what  a  fool  he  is  not  to 
do  so." 

"  That's  a  true  word,"  agreed  the  skipper. 

"  He  knows  what  he's  doing,"  was  Cole's 
comment.  "  He  reckons  he  can  weather  it." 

The  horn  went  on  sounding  its  hoarse  message 
of  urgency,  and  once  more  the  cannon  thundered 
its  stern  warning.  But  the  schooner  did  not  drop 
her  anchor. 

"  Good-night !  "  ejaculated  Gotty.     "  Ain't  some 


298     GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

people  obstinate  !  Jest  ter  save  a  few  bowers, 
fancy  any  one  risking  a  big  wessel  like  that." 

More  meanings,  and  another  report  of  the  gun. 
Yet  still  the  schooner  paid  no  heed.  It  was  a^ 
situation  full  of  awe,  nothing  making  a  stronger 
appeal  to  the  imagination  than  the  thought  of  that 
self-reliant  man  of  iron  nerves  who  persisted  in 
preferring  his  own  judgment  to  that  of  the  local 
experts. 

It  is  a  story  whereof  I  know  not  the  end.  As 
we  found  the  situation,  so  we  left  it.  The  horn 
and,  occasionally,  the  gun  were  reiterating  their 
disregarded  warnings  when  that  picture  of  un- 
certainty and  hazard  was  blotted  out  behind  us 
in  the  haze. 

Further  to  the  west  we  found  more  wind,  and 
of  a  slant  that  favoured  our  rapid  progress  to 
Shanklin,  our  next  place  of  call  for  letters.  The 
pilot  hit  that  part  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  to  a  nicety. 

Evening  had  come  when  we  dropped  anchor 
off  the  pier,  where  Japanese  lanterns  made  a  tangle 
of  waving  prettiness  in  the  moonlight.  Languorous 
Shanklin  lay  under  the  witchery  of  dainty  waltz 
music,  and  we  rowed  through  water  bespangled 
with  confetti. 

Unfortunately  the  favourable  impressions  thus 
made  upon  my  shipmates'  minds  were  destined  to 
be  erased  by  an  experience  following  promptly 
upon  our  entry  into  the  town. 

I  desired  to  proffer  them  a  congenial  solace 
after  the  fatigues  of  the  day,  but,  having  sipped 
the  offering,  I  found  them  regarding  one  another 


THE  SCHOONER'S   PERIL        299 

with  expressions  in  which  misgiving  and  indigna- 
tion competed  for  a  mastery. 

"  I  can't  drink  it,"  said  Cole,  firmly,  as  he  de- 
posited his  tankard  on  a  little  round  table. 

"  No  more  can't  I,"  acquiesced  his  superior. 
Then,  obeying  a  common  impulse,  they  arose  with 
puckered  brows  and  carried  their  measures  to  the 
bar,  bent  on  making  a  formal  complaint  to  the 
young  lady  at  whose  hands  they  had  received  the 
liquid.  The  skipper  acted  as  spokesman. 

"  You  don't  call  this  beer,  do  yer  ? "  he  asked 
her.  "  I  wouldn't  give  it  ter  hogs — leave  alone 
Christians." 

The  girl  at  once  went  off  to  fetch  the  proprietor, 
who  was  promptly  on  the  scene. 

"  It's  only  fit  ter  poison  rats,"  Gotty  assured 
him,  adding — though  the  unpremeditated  juxta- 
position of  the  two  remarks  was,  I  could  not  help 
reflecting,  calculated  to  wound  any  one  of  sensi- 
tive disposition — "'Ave  some  yerself  and  see." 

But  the  cautious  proprietor  resisted  this  invita- 
tion, and  contented  himself  with  the  statement, 
uttered  somewhat  warmly,  that  he  did  not  make 
the  beer,  and  if  they  did  not  like  it  they  could 
leave  it. 

By  way  of  safeguarding  the  imperilled  peace,  I 
gave  an  auxiliary  order  for  bottled  specimens,  by 
which,  hailing  it  as  refreshment  of  a  totally  different 
order,  my  companions  were  restored  to  the  bearing 
of  calm  and  collected  citizens. 

On  leaving  that  establishment,  we  took  a  stroll 
along  Shanklin's  main  thoroughfare,  the  excursion 


300     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

yielding  an  opportunity  that  the  skipper  was  not 
slow  in  turning  to  account. 

As  we  had  entered  Sandown  Bay  the  light  was 
sufficient  to  reveal  that  charming  sweep  of  water 
as,  in  Gotty's  matured  judgment,  a  likely  place  for 
soles,  and  he  made  the  suggestion,  with  which  I 
promptly  concurred,  that  on  the  following  morning 
we  should  put  down  our  trawl  to  them.  Coming 
now  to  a  superb  fishmonger's,  the  prudent  thought 
crossed  his  mind  that  it  might  be  well,  before 
being  at  the  trouble  of  catching  the  fish,  to  make 
sure  of  a  channel  through  which  to  dispose  of 
them.  Accordingly,  leaving  Cole  and  myself  out- 
side, he  entered  the  shop  to  try  and  arrive  at  an 
understanding  with  the  proprietor  ;  and  from  that 
animated  conference  he  presently  emerged  with 
the  springy  footsteps  and  beaming  countenance 
of  one  who  has  concluded  an  advantageous  bargain. 
To  details  of  the  negotiations  I  readily  lent  a 
listening  ear. 

"At  fust  'e  wanted  ter  say  a  shillin'  a  pound 
fer  small  and  one-and-six  fer  large,  but  I  says, 
i  Don't  be  'ard,  sir,  on  a  pore  man/  I  says  ;  so  at 
larst  'e  comes  round  ter  one-and-five  all  sorts, 
and  take  'em  as  they  come." 

So  that  nothing  actually  remained  undone  but 
the  catching  of  the  soles — to  which  we  addressed 
our  energies  early  on  the  following  morning. 
Having  hoisted  anchor  and  sails,  we  were  on  the 
point  of  lifting  the  net  overboard  when  a  distrac- 
tion occurred.  An  elderly  individual  in  a  boat 
was  shouting  all  manner  of  incoherencies  as,  with 


THE   SCHOONER'S   PERIL         301 

hasty  and  floundering  manipulation  of  his  oars,  he 
came  rowing  in  our  direction. 

When  he  arrived  alongside,  his  jumbled  stream 
of  talk  resolved  itself  into  jerky  sentences  urgently 
dissuading  us  from  our  obvious  and  declared  in- 
tention of  shooting  the  trawl.  Gotty,  with  deepen- 
ing perplexity,  endeavoured  to  engage  our  peculiar 
visitor  in  consecutive  and  rational  conversation  ; 
to  which  end  the  old  man  was  in  the  less  position 
to  bend  his  mind,  as,  entirely  without  authority, 
he  had  entered  upon  the  laborious  task  of  throwing 
a  quantity  of  tattered  periodical  literature  from  his 
vessel  to  ours. 

"  'Ere,  steady,  mate,  steady  !  "  protested  the  skip- 
per, as  he  began  to  return  these  unrequested  favours. 
"You  keep  your  books  ;  we  don't  want  'em." 

With  splutterings  to  the  effect  that  we  could 
have  them,  they  being  of  no  use  to  him,  the 
painstaking  stranger  continued  to  load  us  with 
his  property,  so  that  the  senseless  spectacle  was 
presented  of  that  cargo  of  old  monthly  magazines 
passing  in  uncouth  handfuls  from  his  boat  to  the 
Betty  and  back  from  the  Betty  to  his  boat. 

Meanwhile  Gotty's  attention  was  in  a  subordinate 
degree  engaged  in  an  endeavour  to  extract  some 
definite  statement  as  to  why  we  should  not  go 
trawling. 

With  a  hiccoughing  reference  to  rocks,  the  old 
man  paused  momentarily  from  his  unappreciated 
industry  and  swung  his  arms  afar,  as  though  in 
comprehensive  suggestion  that  those  perils  existed 
in  all  the  surrounding  sea. 


302     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  Well,  where  ain't  there  any,  then  ? "  asked 
Gotty,  a  trifle  impatiently  ;  whereat,  raising  a 
wobbling  finger  in  the  neighbourhood  of  screwed- 
up  eyes,  the  old  man  somewhat  collapsed  anato- 
mically in  the  endeavour  to  hint  at  rich  stores  of 
private  knowledge. 

"Take  me  along  yer.     I  show  whertfish." 

It  needed  but  this  revelation  of  ulterior  motives 
to  bring  matters  to  a  head.  The  skipper,  ever 
slow  to  form  harsh  judgments  on  such  a  point, 
was  constrained  to  recognise  the  palpable  and 
extraordinary  fact  that  our  visitor  was  grievously 
the  worse  for  liquor. 

"'Ere,"  cried  Gotty,  "clear  out  of  it.  D'yer 
'ear  ?  I  ain't  got  no  time  ter  waste  over  them  as 
gets  boozed.  And  not  gorn  eight  yet !  You  did 
ought  ter  be  ashamed  of  yerself — an  ole  man 
of  your  age ; "  and,  feet  assisting  hands,  he  freed 
the  deck  of  the  temporary  accumulation  of  printed 
matter,  and  ruthlessly  cast  the  boat  off.  The  old 
man  dropped  astern,  making  vain  vocal  efforts  to 
be  offensive. 

"We  ain't  goin'  ter  be  put  off  fishin'  by  a  drunken 
ole  noosance  like  'im,  shorely  ! "  asked  Gotty. 

"Certainly  not,"  I  replied. 

"  Not  likely,"  he  pointed  out ;  and  two  minutes 
later  our  trawl  was  down. 

After  the  manner  of  a  prudent  fisherman,  he  was 
presently  holding  on  to  the  tow-rope,  that  he 
might  feel  how  his  gear  was  travelling  along  the 
bottom.  Suddenly  a  great  agony  came  over  him, 
and  he  cried : 


THE   SCHOONER'S   PERIL        303 

"  She's  fast !  Good-night,  'ere's  a  nice  thing  ! 
Bear  up  sharp ! "  Then  rosy  hope  succeeded 
black  despair. 

"  Stay  a  bit.  She's  free.  And  drorin'  over  the 
sand  nice  and  easy  .  .  .  Why  !  Fast  agin  !  Ah  ! 
she's  parst  it.  But  bump,  bump.  It's  dirty 
ground,  no  mistake.  Weed,  I  shouldn't  wonder 
.  .  .  That's  better.  That's  a  lot  better.  Now 
she's  fishin'  .  .  .  Hullo !  If  she  aint  'ooked 
agin.  'Ere  !  I've  'ad  enough  of  this.  Bear  up 
'ard.  Quick,  the  runnin'  pin  !  Look  alive  ! " 

Our  anxious  salvage  labours  were  successful, 
and  as  the  trawl  was  coming  up  I  reflected  that 
we  had  at  anyrate  stolen  a  brief  haul  in  virgin 
waters,  and  the  fruits  thereof  I  was  all  curiosity 
to  behold. 

At  a  rough  estimate  we  had  captured  a  hundred- 
weigh;  of  brown  seaweed.  In  the  net  we  also 
found  an  only  fish — a  sturdy  little  whiting  pollock 
weighing,  I  should  suppose,  about  one  ounce  and 
three-quarters. 

As  some  consolation  to  my  shipmates,  I  took 
them,  after  dinner,  to  see  the  Chine. 

When  we  were  in  that  ferny  paradise,  nothing 
filled  them  with  greater  awe  than  the  recollection 
that  payment  had  been  exacted  for  admission,  and 
while  ungrudging  in  their  recognition  of  a  certain 
sylvan  beauty  in  the  place,  they  made  no  secret  of 
their  regret  that  the  money  had  not  been  laid  out 
in  tobacco. 

Yet  Shanklin  Chine  was  destined,  as  we  made 
our  exit  from  it,  to  provide  Gotty  with  a  gratifying 


304     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

and  memorable  experience.  An  old  lady  with 
brooches  and  other  gee-gaws  to  sell,  detained  us 
with  an  invitation  to  purchase  of  her  wares,  and 
the  skipper  was  endeavouring  to  make  her  under- 
stand his  attitude  towards  jewellery  when  his 
tongue  went  speechless,  and  his  eyes  lit  with 
innocent  delight,  as  he  suddenly  beheld,  perched 
unafraid  on  a  twig  within  two  yards  of  his  face,  a 
robin  redbreast. 

An  acquaintance  with  the  bird  was  promptly 
claimed  by  Maggie  of  the  pay-box  and  the  laugh- 
ing eyes,  she  having  meanwhile  joined  the  group, 
the  sight  of  three  sailormen  possessing  a  natural 
attraction  (as  the  sagacious  old  lady  privily 
informed  us)  for  one  whose  absent  lover  was 
steward  on  a  barque  carrying  timber  from  Sweden 
to  Hull. 

"  He  is  so  tame,"  Maggie  explained,  in  allusion 
to  the  bird,  "that  he  will  come  and  eat  out  of 
your  hand  ; "  at  which  the  skipper  was  divided 
between  honest  scepticism  and  reluctance  to 
question  a  young  lady's  word.  Having  tripped 
off  to  fetch  crumbs  of  suitable  size,  she  set  him 
to  make  the  experiment,  at  the  same  time  impera- 
tively enjoining  quietude. 

And  indeed  the  massive  palm  had  not  been  long 
on  exhibition  before  it  was  tickled  by  those  tiny 
feet.  Nor  did  the  trustful  robin  withdraw  from 
that  tarry  platform  before  securing  the  morsels  of 
bread  deposited  thereon. 

"  That's  somethin',"  exclaimed  the  skipper,  a 
prey  to  lively  gratification,  i(  what  there's  many  at 


THE   SCHOONER'S  PERIL        305 

our   place  '11   say  it's  a  lie  when  I  go  back  and 
tell  'em." 

Presently  discovering  that  Maggie  was  a  stranger 
to  his  exploits  on  the  greasy  pole,  Gotty  instructed 
her  mind  under  that  head  ;  and,  ere  we  departed, 
she  had  found  courage  to  ask  his  expert  opinion 
as  to  the  sort  of  weather  they  were  likely  to  be 
having  at  Stockholm. 


U 


XXV 

SHADOWS  OF   PORTLAND   PRISON 

OUR  journey  from  the  Isle  of  Wight  to  Weymouth 
was  deficient  in  pleasing  experiences.  Darkness 
found  us  south-east  of  the  Anvil  light,  and  we 
were  occupied  throughout  that  moonless  night 
in  dodging  steamboats.  The  pilot  was  long  in 
ridding  himself  of  the  gloomy  fancy  that  each 
one  was  heading  straight  for  the  Betty;  but  he 
came  at  last  to  reserve  his  anxiety  for  those  rare 
occasions  when  an  iron  monster,  invisible  but 
audible,  glared  at  him  through  both  her  coloured 
eyes. 

The  next  day  was  hardly  worthy  of  the  name. 
Through  a  dense  wet  fog  we  drifted  westward, 
uttering  sad  and  disagreeable  noises  with  our 
eighteenpenny  horn.  To  peer  too  intently  into  a 
sea  fog  is,  I  found,  unwise.  You  are  apt  to  see 
things  that  are  not  there.  Once  Gotty  was  sure 
he  descried  trees  and  a  church  steeple,  but  we 
sailed  through  them  all  right. 

Before  sunset  the  weather  cleared,  and  against 
the  glowing  sky  we  saw  dark  Portland — a  place 
which,  when  I  mentioned  its  prison,  powerfully 

engaged  my  skipper's  interest. 

306 


SHADOWS  OF  PORTLAND  PRISON     307 

"  Well,  all  I  'ope  is,"  he  remarked,  a  slightly 
reproachful  ring  in  the  note  of  solicitude,  "  they 
give  theirselves  more  trouble  to  air  yer  things 
over  there  than  what  they  do  in  'Olloway." 

Cole  and  I,  our  curiosity  whetted,  encouraged 
him  to  enlarge  upon  such  matters  as  lay  on  his 
mind. 

"  Bin  there  !  Why,  ercourse  I  'ave  ! "  Gotty 
exclaimed,  as  though  a  little  offended  that  the 
range  of  his  experiences  should  be  questioned. 
"  It  was  along  o'  sellin'  a  pint  of  shrimps  on  the 
kerb  at  Southend — only  the  old  lady  what  bought 
the  shrimps,  she  reg'lar  flew  at  the  perliceman, 
and  said  I  warn't  on  the  kerb,  and  no  more  I 
wasn't,  but  jest  off  it.  At  one  time  I  fancied  she 
was  goin'  ter  land  'im  one  acrost  the  'ead  with  'er 
umberella,  she  carried  on  so  angry.  But  they  took 
me  ter  Rochford,  where  I  got  the  charnse  of  a 
week  inside  or  pay  twenty-seven  shillin's  and  six- 
pence !  I  wasn't  goin'  ter  throw  good  money 
away  like  that — it  ain't  likely ;  so  I  took  the 
'oliday.  Outside  'Olloway,  me  'aving  eighteen 
shillin's  in  my  pocket,  I  says  ter  the  perliceman 
what  come  along  o'  me,  '  I'll  jest  run  acrost  the 
way  ter  get  a  drink,'  I  says,  ''afore  we  go  in.' 
'  No,  you  won't,'  he  says.  '  Beggin'  your  pardin'/ 
I  says,  '  but  I  know  the  regerlations  if  you  don't, 
and  a  man  ain't  surposed  ter  be  in  prison  not 
afore  'e  gets  there.'  So  we  went  inter  the  public- 
'ouse  on  t'other  side  of  the  road,  and  arter  'aving 
three  'a'porth  of  beer  I  give  the  publican  the  rest 
of  my  money  ter  mind  till  I  come  out." 


308     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  And  how  did  you  like  being  in  prison  ? "  I 
ventured  respectfully  to  inquire. 

"As  fur  as  that  goes,"  the  skipper  thoughtfully 
replied,  "  bein'  in  chokee  wasn't  no  bother  ter  me, 
fer  I  didn't  let  it  be  a  bother,  if  you  understand  my 
meanin'.  They  give  me  two  pound  of  oakum  ter 
pick,  and  when  I  come  ter  see  it  I  says,  '  No,  thank 
yer — not  stuff  like  that  I  won't  pick.'  So  they 
took  me  afore  the  Guv'nor  and  'e  says, '  You're 
'ere  ter  be  punished  ! '  '  I'm  quite  aware  of  that, 
sir/  I  says.  'Then  you  must  pick  the  oakum,' 
he  says.  '  Beggin'  your  pardin','  I  says,  '  but  my 
father  and  mother  didn't  give  me  fingers  ter  pick 
tarry  rope  like  that.  If  it  was  proper  rope,'  I 
says,  '  I'd  pick  it  and  glad  of  the  job.'  '  Then 
you'll  'ave  ter  go  in  the  dark  cells,'  says  'e. 
1  'Wery  good,  sir,'  I  says,  '  I'd  as  lieve  be  in  dark 
cells  as  what  I  would  in  light.'  It  never  made 
no  dif'rence  ter  me — bein'  in  dark  cells  didn't ;  but 
on  the  day  fer  me  ter  come  out  they  give  me  back 
my  clothes  all  dampish.  That's  where  I  do  think 
they  oughter  be  more  careful.  When  you  go  in 
they  do  'em  up  in  a  bundle  and  sling  'em  up  in  a 
loft,  and  there  they  lay  till  you  come  out  agin. 
Now  don't  you  think  they  might  'ave  the  thought- 
fulness  jest  ter  air  'em  ?  " 

"Certainly,"  I  agreed. 

"  Only,  mind  yer,  they  was  jest  as  I  left  'em, 
and  my  rings  and  watch  was  there  all  right. 
Nothin'  wasn't  gorn  only  two  ounces  of  'bacca 
and  'alf  an  ounce  of  'ard." 

"Stolen?"  I  asked. 


SHADOWS  OF  PORTLAND  PRISON     309 

"  Well,  it  was  gorn." 

"  Why,"  I  indignantly  observed,  "  that  was  a 
worse  offence  than  you  were  in  prison  for." 

"  Oh,  I  never  made  no  bother  about  the  'bacca, 
and  I  soon  bought  myself  a  bit  more  when  I  went 
acrost  the  road  fer  my  money.  And  arterwards 
I  come  even  with  that  perliceman  what  put  me 
away." 

"  Indeed  ! " 

"  Yes,  it  was  regatter  day,  and  'e  was  to  be  on 
the  barge  ter  see  nobody  didn't  put  a  pig  on  the 
pole  same  as  they  used  ter  do  at  one  time.  There 
was  several  young  fellers  what  was  goin'  ter  row 
me  out  ter  the  barge,  and  'e  arsked  if  'e  couldn't 
come  aboard  with  us.  So  I  says  '  Yus,'  and  I 
give  them  young  fellers  word  it  was  'im  what  put 
me  away,  and  what  d'yer  think  'appened  ?  " 

The  ecstatic  light  in  Gotty's  eyes  affording  no 
clue,  both  Cole  and  I  were  unable  to  conjecture 
the  character  of  later  developments. 

"  Why,"  pursued  the  skipper,  "  when  we  got 
agin  the  barge,  them  and  me  'appened  ter  all  stand 
up  tergether  on  one  side  of  the  boat,  and  over  it 
went,  only  don't  you  see  we'd  all  got  'old  of  the 
barge,  so  none  of  us  didn't  go  in  the  water — only 
the  perliceman,  and  the  pore  feller  didn't  'alf  look 
a  pictur'  when  at  larst  we  got  'im  out.  'Ad  ter  go 
back  ter  the  station  ter  change  'is  things,  'e  did. 
I  give  those  young  fellers  a  gallon  of  beer  betwixt 
'em,  and  I  don't  know,"  he  concluded  reflectively, 
"  as  they  didn't  oughter  'ave  'ad  more." 

These   instructive  reminiscences,   coupled  with 


3io    GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

the  frowning  aspect  of  Portland,  necessarily  gave 
a  criminal  turn  to  my  thoughts  ;  and  Fate  seemed 
bent  on  deepening  the  impression  thus  produced. 

Let  me  trace  the  incidents  that  led  to  my  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  police. 

Having  dropped  anchor  within  the  illumination 
of  the  promenade,  Gotty  and  I  rowed  ashore  to 
Weymouth  and  visited  Melcombe  Regis,  which 
fine  place  proved  to  be  populated  with  bluejackets 
from  Portland  ;  for  in  that  quarter  of  England, 
let  me  parenthetically  observe,  several  towns  and 
harbours  are  jumbled  together  in  a  way  which,  as 
a  lover  of  simplicity,  I  do  not  approve.  But  the 
matter  of  more  immediate  moment  was  that  the 
post-office  had  closed  for  the  night  ;  and  thus,  the 
desire  for  correspondence  being  strong  upon  me, 
I  was  astir  early  next  morning.  Yet  not  so  early 
as  Gotty,  who,  when  I  emerged  on  deck  in  a  toilet 
lacking  some  finishing  touches,  proved  to  be  baling 
out — still  with  my  mind  running  on  Justice  and 
her  victims,  I  had  almost  written  bailing  out — the 
dinghey.  If  the  fastidious  reader  will  permit  me 
to  particularise  (and  the  details  will  prove  not 
without  a  possible  bearing  on  what  subsequently 
occurred),  I  would  mention  that,  besides  being  in 
old  slippers,  I  had  neither  brushed  my  hair  nor 
donned  a  necktie.  Yet  even  in  that  slovenly  state 
I  joined  Gotty  in  the  dinghey,  to  take  immediate 
advantage  of  his  presence  on  the  rowing  seat  ;  for 
I  reflected  that  at  so  early  an  hour  there  would 
be  few  persons  abroad  in  the  town  to  remark  my 
appearance. 


SHADOWS  OF  PORTLAND  PRISON     311 

"  Arter  you've  got  yer  letters,"  said  the  skipper, 
as  we  parted  at  the  stairs,  "you  might  jest  get 
a  loaf  of  bread.  If  you  go  ter  the  pier  'ead  and 
wave  yer  'at,  when  you  come  back,  I'll  be  shore 
ter  see  yer." 

I  had  soon  secured  my  correspondence,  but 
several  bakers  told  me  their  bread  would  not 
leave  the  oven  for  half  -  an  -  hour.  The  fourth 
time  of  my  receiving  that  answer  occurred  in  a 
confectioner's  shop  rich  with  the  aromas  of  toast 
and  coffee,  and,  a  sudden  greediness  taking  hold 
of  me,  I  decided  to  occupy  the  interval  of  waiting 
with  a  luxurious  land  breakfast. 

It  was  when  emerging  from  the  scene  of  that 
stolen  feast  (not  that  I  omitted  to  pay  for  it), 
with  the  abstracted  air  of  one  whose  senses  are 
slumbrous  with  sufficiency,  that  a  detaining  hand 
was  laid  firmly  on  my  shoulder,  and,  turning  with 
a  start,  I  found  a  sturdy  policeman  confronting 
me  with  an  aspect  inquisitive,  triumphant,  and 
even  proprietorial.  Surprised,  I  shrank  back,  but 
succeeded  in  abstaining  from  taking  to  my  heels — 
which  I  assume  to  be  the  first  impulse  of  a  citizen 
in  such  a  situation. 

"  I  want  you  to  tell  me  who  you  are  and  where 
you  come  from." 

So  spake  the  audacious  uniformed  creature, 
with  an  expression  of  countenance  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  describe  as  a  leer.  He  did  not  so 
much  as  say  "  please." 

A  wave  of  indignation  trembled  along  my  spine 
and  in  and  out  of  my  finger  tips  ;  and  I  hesitated 


312     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

for  a  reply.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  found  myself 
with  nothing  but  a  vague  and  general  idea  who 
I  was.  As  to  where  I  came  from — why,  as  I  told 
him,  from  that  shop. 


1  found  a  sturdy  policeman  confronting  me  with  an  aspect 
inquisitive,  triumphant,  and  even  proprietorial. 

"  Where  did  you  sleep  last  night  ?  "  he  sternly 
inquired. 

"  On  my  ship,"  I  replied. 

"  What  ship  ?  " 

So  the  magisterial  examination  ran  on.  I  could 
but  tell  him  the  truth,  and  the  truth,  as  usual, 


SHADOWS  OF  PORTLAND  PRISON     313 

sounded  lame,  a  trifle  ludicrous,  and  wholly 
unconvincing. 

"  What  work  do  you  do  on  the  fishing-smack  ?  " 
he  asked,  critically  eying  me  from  head  to  foot. 

"  I  sometimes  lend  a  hand  with  the  sails.  Then 
I  do  cooking,  and  washing  up,  and  things  like 
that." 

"  Are  you  the  steward  ?  " 

"  No,  I'm  the  owner.  And  now,"  I  added,  "  if 
you've  finished  asking  me  questions,  I'll  ask  you 
one.  Why  have  you  stopped  me  like  this  ?  " 

"  Because,"  he  replied  with  alacrity  and  the 
leer,  "  you're  very  like  some  one  I'm  looking  for." 

Truly  a  nice  thing  to  be  told  by  a  police- 
man ! 

"  Well,"  I  rejoined,  somewhat  warmly,  "  I  think 
you've  made  a  mistake  this  time." 

"  Perhaps  I  have,"  he  replied,  in  a  non- 
committal tone  ;  and  thus  we  parted. 

A  less  satisfactory  interview  it  has  seldom  been 
my  lot  to  have  with  anybody.  Nay,  I  walked 
back  to  the  harbour  with  an  uneasy  feeling  that 
there  had  been  remissness  on  his  part  or  mine. 
But  whether  he  ought  to  have  locked  me  up,  or 
I  ought  to  have  knocked  him  down,  I  leave  the 
impartial  reader  to  determine. 

Gotty,  when  I  gave  him  the  tidings,  was  less 
complimentary  than  kind. 

"  Look  'ere,"  he  exclaimed  with  earnest  chivalry, 
"  if  anythin'  more  comes  of  it,  you  put  it  on  ter 
me.  If  they  want  somebody,  you  shan't  go — I'm 
ready  for  'em." 


GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

But  at  the  moment  my  attention  was  claimed 
by  a  matter  less  susceptible  of  postponement,  and 
of  a  more  unselfish  complexion,  than  the  finding 
of  some  one  to  represent  me  in  connection  with 
an  unknown  crime  which,  for  anything  I  knew, 
I  might  not  have  committed. 

Among  the  letters  just  to  hand,  was  one  for 
Cole,  who,  after  bashfully  extracting  it  from  its 
envelope,  handed  it  to  me  with  a  request  that  I 
would  disclose  the  hidden  meaning.  And  here 
let  me  mention  a  delicate  responsibility  with 
which,  as  a  shipmate  of  the  unscholarly,  I  had 
found  myself  clothed.  Skipper  and  mate  readily 
agreed  with  me  that  weekly  remittances  to  wives 
should  be  accompanied  by  missives  which,  besides 
giving  some  account  of  the  sender's  health  and 
fortunes,  would  convey  suitable  expressions  of 
solicitude  and  affection  to  his  family  circle. 

At  my  consent  to  perform  these  literary  labours 
on  their  behalf,  they  were  sufficiently  voluble  with 
their  thanks  ;  but  unfortunately  I  failed  to  make 
them  realise  that  the  position  demanded  some 
measure  of  mental  co-operation  on  their  part. 
I  could  not  rid  them  of  a  superstitious  belief  that, 
because  I  was  accustomed  to  use  the  pen,  I  must 
necessarily  know  what  they  would  desire  to  say 
to  their  wives  better  than  they  knew  themselves. 
Thus  invariably  I  found  myself  with  instructions 
embarrassingly  meagre  and  monotonous ;  and  had 
I  conscientiously  kept  my  communications  within 
authorised  limits,  they  would,  week  after  week, 
have  read  as  follows  : — 


SHADOWS  OF  PORTLAND  PRISON     315 

"  DEAR  MRS.  GOTTY  (or  COLE), — Your  husband 
wishes  me  to  say  that  he  is  all  right,  and  he  hopes 
you  are  all  right." 

Manifestly  these  rudimentary  thoughts  needed 
to  be  copiously  supplemented.  Knowing  the 
members  of  my  skipper's  household,  I  found  it 
comparatively  easy  to  devise  appropriate  messages 
from  him  to  them.  In  Cole's  case,  however, 
greater  circumspection  was  called  for,  and,  as  a 
prelude  to  the  labour  of  composition,  I  had  to 
ascertain,  inter  alia,  his  pet  name  for  Mrs.  Cole, 
the  sex  and  approximate  age  of  the  baby,  and 
distinguishing  charms  of  the  other  children  :  nor, 
let  me  add,  did  any  Friday  find  me  above  the 
necessity,  on  some  point  or  other,  of  refreshing 
my  memory. 

The  letter  which  Cole  now  gave  me  to  read  was 
the  first  he  had  received  from  his  wife  in  answer 
to  one  written  by  me  to  her  on  his  behalf.  At  a 
first  glance  I  was  reassured  to  see  that  my  string 
of  crosses  had  provoked  an  even  more  liberal 
consignment  from  the  lady  ;  and,  indeed,  if  I 
may  say  so  without  immodesty,  her  epistle  was  a 
triumphant  vindication  of  mine.  Beginning,  "  My 
Dear  Darling  Husband, — Thank  you  very  very 
much  for  your  kind  and  loving  letter,"  it  ran  on, 
for  four  pages,  in  the  same  strain,  and,  as  a 
crowning  proof  that  I  had  done  my  work  with 
judgment,  my  endearing  allusion  to  the  baby  had 
provoked  a  few  crooning  words  quoted  from  that 
little  personage  in  reply. 


316     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  Did  yer  see  'im  pipe  the  flute  ? "  gasped 
Gotty,  pent-up  amazement  finding  outlet  when  he 
and  I  were  afterwards  alone  ;  and  indeed  I  had 
noticed,  without  particularly  remarking,  a  moisture 
in  Cole's  eyes  as  I  returned  his  letter  and  he 
placed  it  in  his  pocket.  "  Well  of  all  the — ! " 
pursued  the  skipper,  language  failing  him.  "  We 
know  'e  ain't  left  'ome  before  ;  but  ter  stand  with 
'is  eyes  all  runnin'  over,  and  'ave  ter  put  up  'is 
coat  sleeve  to  'em  !  These  Folkestin  chaps  reg'lar 
beat  me.  Fancy  if  I  was  ter  go  and  pipe  the  flute 
when  my  Missis  writes  ter  me." 

And  in  truth  communications  from  that  quarter 
had  tended  to  make  his  mouth,  rather  than  his 
eyes,  water.  For  they  were  commonly  contained 
in  boxes  stuffed  with  apple-turnovers  and  treacle 
tarts  of  the  consigner's  own  making,  she  being 
alive  to  her  spouse's  powerful  predilection  for 
those  articles  of  diet  :  not  (as  Gotty  would 
assuredly  point  out,  were  he  writing  this  book) 
that  the  pilot  was  slow  also  to  demonstrate 
approval  of  the  ^ood  soul's  culinary  achievements. 

During  the  remainder  of  our  stay  at  those 
towns,  I  saw  no  more  of  my  inquisitive  police- 
man ;  but,  as  if  the  influence  of  neighbouring 
Portland  were  not  yet  exhausted,  I  was  destined 
to  narrowly  escape  being  taken  into  custody  on  a 
totally  fresh  charge. 

Like  Sandown  Bay,  the  Weymouth  waters  had 
the  true  fishy  look  to  Gotty,  and  we  were  minded 
once  more  to  try  our  luck  with  the  trawl.  But, 
profiting  by  experience,  I  resolved  on  the  prudent 


SHADOWS  OF  PORTLAND  PRISON     317 

course  of  first  taking  counsel  with  a  local  fisher- 
man. In  a  jerseyed  veteran  of  benign  aspect, 
who  looked  to  be  deeply  versed  in  all  maritime 
matters,  I  recognised  the  man  for  our  need  ;  and 
to  him,  accordingly,  following  on  an  exchange  of 
friendly  salutations,  I  opened  my  mind. 

Having,  with  ready  courtesy,  given  me  gratify- 
ing details  of  the  size  and  multiplicity  of  the  fish 
waiting  to  be  caught,  he  was  at  pains  to  indicate 
the  range  of  waters  in  which  we  could  trawl  with- 
out risk  of  rocks  or  wrecks.  Nay,  to  such  an 
extent  did  he  identify  himself  with  our  interests 
that,  dwelling  on  moon  and  wind  as  factors  in 
our  favour,  he  urgently  advised  that  we  try  our 
luck  that  very  night.  And  not  by  word  or  tone 
did  he  hint  a  hope  that,  for  all  this  useful  in- 
formation, I  would  concede  him  even  the  price 
of  a  pint  of  beer  ;  so  that,  on  observing  my  ship- 
mates across  the  harbour,  I  took  my  departure, 
entertaining  warm  sentiments  towards  a  man  of 
whose  nobility  of  character  I  had  received  such 
signal  proof. 

Having  crossed  in  the  ferry  boat,  I  filled  Gotty's 
bosom  with  enthusiasm  by  apprising  him  of  the 
encouraging  information  I  had  gleaned.  To  such 
a  degree,  indeed,  was  his  mind  engaged  with 
thoughts  of  our  nocturnal  intentions  that  when,  a 
few  minutes  later,  we  received  a  passing  greeting 
from  two  fishermen  leaning  at  leisure  against  a 
railing,  he  paused  to  take  them  into  his  confidence. 

"  Yus,"  he  agreed,  "  the  weather  seems  reg'lar 
set  in  fer  fair.  And  jest  wind  enough  fer  our  job." 


3i 8     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  Going  west  ? "  came  the  politely  interested 
inquiry. 

"  Not  ter  night  we  ain't.  But  we're  goin'  ter 
'ave  a  few  'auls  off  'ere,  jest  ter  see  what  Leigh 
gear's  good  for  in  your  waters." 

"  Trawling  ? "  they  both  exclaimed,  standing 
upright  with  astonishment. 

"  What  !  Ain't  there  nothin'  worth  trying 
after  ? "  asked  Gotty,  in  a  voice  of  trouble. 
"  There  was  some  one  give  the  Guv'nor  word 
you  do  stand  a  charnse  ter  catch  a  few,  and 
nothin'  ter  pull  you  up  west'ard  of  them  white 
clifts." 

"  Who  was  it  ?  "  asked  the  pair  in  unison,  and 
with  something  of  sternness  in  their  tone. 

I  endeavoured  to  indicate  distinguishing  physiog- 
nomical traits  of  the  venerable  fisherman  who  had 
so  readily  placed  his  stores  of  knowledge  at  my 
service. 

"  Old  Sam  !  "  exclaimed  one,  identifying  the 
verbal  portrait. 

"  We  might  'a  known  1 "  exclaimed  the  other. 

Then  they  told  us  that  trawling  in  those  waters 
had  been  strictly  banned,  during  the  previous  six 
years,  by  the  responsible  Government  authority, 
who  were  understood  to  regard  the  bay  as  a 
nursery  for  young  fish  ;  and  we  furthermore  learnt 
that,  while  the  last  man  to  defy  this  prohibition 
was  visited  with  a  heavy  pecuniary  penalty,  against 
the  next  transgressor  loomed  an  official  threat  of 
imprisonment  and  the  confiscation  of  his  boat. 

This  caused  a  radical  change  in  my  sentiments 


SHADOWS  OF  PORTLAND  PRISON     319 

towards  the  old  man  across  the  harbour  ;  and 
after  we  had  returned  our  sober  and  sincere 
thanks  for  the  tidings  just  imparted,  Gotty  and  I 
went  aboard  for  a  quiet  game  of  dominoes  before 
turning  in  for  the  night. 

We  set  sail  from  the  vicinity  of  Portland  early 
next  morning. 


XXVI 

BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL 

FOR  two  nights  and  a  day,  in  alternate  calms, 
fogs,  and  squalls,  we  made  our  uncertain  way  to 
Brixham,  periods  of  human  perturbation  being 
associated  with  the  failure  of  our  lamps  during  a 
high  wind,  and  the  misbehaviour  of  our  kedge 
anchor  in  temporarily  hooking  itself  to  a  rock 
thrice  five  fathoms  down. 

Tor  Bay  proved  alive  with  small  craft  lining 
for  mackerel,  and  we  saw  the  little  shining  creatures 
drawn  from  the  water  in  quick  succession  ;  so 
that,  Cole  having  some  experience  in  the  art,  we 
bought  hooks  and  twine  and  got  to  work.  Our 
success,  if  comparatively  unsensational,  at  least 
supplied  a  welcome  variation  in  our  dietary,  be- 
sides giving  us  confidence  to  go  out  fishing  with 
the  great  Brixham  trawlers.  Like  a  torn-tit  among 
ravens,  we  hauled  with  them,  well  to  the  east  of 
Start  Point,  in  a  brisk  breeze  and  a  heavy  swell. 

"  All  them  big  wessels  wouldn't  shove  their  gear 
in  tergether  if  there  wasn't  somethin'  ter  git." 
Thus,  with  a  wink,  spake  complacent  Gotty. 
"  Now  we'll  see  if  Leigh  gear  ain't  as  good  as 
what  theirs  is." 

390 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      321 

Noting  that  the  Brixham  boats  were  making 
one  long  haul,  we  did  the  same,  rolling  in  those 
great  sweeping  billows  for  two  hours  and  a  quarter. 
Then  came  the  grating  of  windlasses,  and  with 
enthusiastic  impatience  we  hoisted  our  trawl  also. 

It  was  empty,  not  merely  of  fish,  but  of  all 
things  else  ;  and  on  comparing  the  depth  of  the 
water,  as  revealed  by  my  chart,  with  the  length  of 
our  warp,  as  revealed  by  Gotty,  I  found  that  the 
Betty's  net  had  been  hanging  fifteen  fathoms  above 
the  bottom. 

We  had  done  with  fishing.  Thenceforward, 
during  two  sunny  weeks,  we  cruised  from  harbour 
to  harbour  in  that  fair  region  which  is  called 
Devonshire  in  its  first  section,  and  Cornwall  be- 
yond— a  region  of  transparent  blue  sea  where  the 
rocks  are  mottled  with  purples  and  gold  ;  a  region 
of  apples  and  cream,  where,  rambling  about  the 
lanes  and  moors,  we  accepted  nuts  and  mushrooms 
from  bountiful  Nature,  with  blackberries  of  a  size 
and  juiciness  that  recalled  to  my  delighted  skipper 
the  mulberries  of  his  boyhood. 

We  were  in  a  strange,  remote  world,  and  I  was 
to  have  a  sharp  reminder  that  this  was  not  wholly 
an  advantage.  Of  the  cash  supply  I  had  taken 
in  at  Folkestone,  it  chanced  that  but  a  pound 
remained  when  we  arrived  at  Looe — a  circum- 
stance of  the  less  moment  as,  among  correspond- 
ence awaiting  me  there,  I  expected  to  find  a  letter 
enclosing  postal  orders.  Yet  when  that  anticipation 
was  falsified,  I  gave  the  matter  no  further  attention 
than  was  involved  in  the  reflection  that,  for  the 

X 


322     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

moment,  I  must  abstain  from  the  purchase  of 
stores  (though  ours  were  practically  exhausted) 
and  limit  expenditure  to  current  needs.  The 
remittance  would  not  improbably  arrive  on  the 
morrow,  or  the  day  after  ;  and,  in  any  case,  I 
had  my  cheque  book. 

Disappointed  of  that  letter  on  the  third  morning, 
the  necessity  for  taking  action  was  suggested  by  a 
discovery  that  our  financial  resources  had  dwindled 
to  two  shillings  and  five  pence.  Calling  at  a 
bank,  I  asked  permission  to  present  a  cheque,  pay- 
ment to  await  an  exchange  of  telegrams,  at  my 
cost,  with  my  bank.  But  in  this  procedure,  which 
I  thought  would  close  all  avenues  to  suspicion,  the 
Looe  banker  discovered  a  flaw. 

The  telegram,  he  pointed  out,  would  but  prove 
the  existence  of  an  account  in  the  name  of  the 
signatory  ;  and  how  was  he  to  know — he  asked, 
beaming  blandly  at  me  through  his  spectacles — 
that  I  really  was  myself,  and  not  some  one  else 
forging  my  own  signature  ?  And,  indeed,  the 
clever  way  in  which  he  expressed  himself  induced 
me  almost  to  share  the  doubt  on  that  point  which 
I  realised  might  be  actually  lurking  in  his  mind. 
Moreover,  toilet  facilities  on  a  bawley  being  slender, 
I  bethought  me,  in  guilty  confusion,  that  the  pilot's 
appearance  lent  small  support  to  his  cock-and-a- 
bull  story  of  a  banking  account  in  Fleet  Street. 

Nevertheless,  inviting  the  Looe  banker,  for  the 
sake  of  argument,  to  assume  that  I  was  no  im- 
postor, how,  I  asked  him,  could  I  gain  prompt 
access  to  .£5  ?  On  that  hypothetical  assumption, 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      323 

he  pointed  out,  nothing  would  be  easier  than  for 
my  bank,  on  receiving  telegraphic  instructions 
from  me,  to  at  once  wire  such  a  sum  through 
the  post-office. 

Two  minutes  afterwards  I  was  sending  the 
message :  "  Please  wire  me  ^5  immediately. 
Address  fishing-boat  Betty,  Looe  Harbour,  Corn- 
wall." 

Three  hours  later,  this  reply  reached  me  from 
Fleet  Street :  "  Present  cheque  nearest  bank. 
They  will  wire  us  before  paying." 

The  vaunted  resources  of  civilisation,  it  will 
be  noted,  were  playing  battledore,  with  Gotty's 
Guv'nor  as  the  shuttlecock.  However,  there 
chanced  to  be  a  bank  nearer  than  the  one  I 
had  earlier  visited ;  and,  thither,  accordingly,  I 
went  with  my  petition  and  telegram. 

It  was  their  early  closing  day,  and  the  manager 
was  on  the  point  of  shutting  up  shop  and  going 
home.  He  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
matter.  So  I  took  long  strides  back  to  the  post- 
office,  and  had  this  urgent  message  flashed  to 
Fleet  Street :  "  Local  bank  closing.  Please  wire 
money  at  once." 

I  returned  to  the  Betty,  of  which  my  last 
impressions  were  associated  with  the  sight  of  two 
men  whose  spirits  I  had  depressed  by  dark  hints 
of  an  empty  exchequer.  I  now  came  plump 
against  the  disconcerting  fact  that,  although  it  was 
nearly  three  o'clock,  they  had  had  no  dinner. 

As  I  feared,  neither  retained  a  penny  in  his 
pocket,  while  the  outlay  for  telegrams  had  reduced 


324     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

my  available  resources  to  2|d.  Nor  could  I  feel 
sure,  in  the  anxious  situation  which  had  developed, 
that  I  might  not  be  compelled,  later  on,  to  further 
deplete  that  reserve  by  the  purchase  of  a  postage 
stamp. 

On  looking  our  situation  squarely  in  the  face,  I 
found  that,  while  our  chest  contained  generous 
quantities  of  soda,  tea,  coffee,  milk,  sugar,  marma- 
lade, and  soap,  we  were  otherwise  reduced  to  half 
the  top  of  a  loaf,  and  a  little  of  yesterday's  rabbit 
at  the  bottom  of  the  saucepan.  Taking  a  slice  of 
the  bread  by  way  of  encouragement,  I  bade  my 
shipmates  eat  the  remainder  with  the  remnants  of 
the  rodent.  But  to  this  arrangement  Gotty,  with 
some  hauteur,  demurred,  coldly  insisting  that  I 
must  have  the  rabbit ;  so  that,  for  the  time  being, 
we  all  stood  severely  aloof  from  our  savoury,  each 
professing  contentment  with  his  crust. 

My  endeavours  to  make  the  skipper  understand 
the  cause  of  our  embarrassment  would,  doubtless, 
have  met  with  a  fuller  measure  of  success  had  his 
mind  held  a  clearer  conception  of  the  principles 
and  intricacies  of  banking.  As  it  was,  his  politely 
sympathetic  interest  did  not  wholly  conceal  the 
element  of  honest  misgiving  that  coloured  his 
thoughts  on  the  subject.  In  truth,  I  had  earlier 
become  aware  that  the  Guv'nor's  trick  of  beguiling 
good  money  out  of  simple  folk,  in  return  for  slips 
of  paper,  did  not  command  his  full  approval,  even 
if  he  could  not  repress  a  sportsman's  pleasure  in 
the  success  of  such  cool  audacity.  As  a  way  of 
making  a  living,  the  writing  of  cheques  was,  I  am 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      325 

sure,  in  Gotty's  opinion,  ethically  unsound  ;  nor 
do  I  think,  had  he  spoken  his  private  thoughts,  he 
was  so  greatly  surprised  to  find  that  at  last, 
apparently,  the  game  was  up. 

Perhaps  I  did  not  greatly  assist  his  grasp  of  the 
situation  by  mentioning  an  expectation — which, 
however,  grew  fainter  as  the  hours  dragged  by — 
that  a  consignment  of  cash  would  be  communicated 
to  me  by  electricity.  Yet  when,  at  eight  o'clock, 
he  found  his  Guv'nor  declaiming  against  a  bank 
that  had  failed  us  in  our  hour  of  need,  Gotty's 
loyal  bosom  swelled  with  indignation  in  unison. 
In  my  anger  I  vowed  to  withdraw  my  patronage 
from  the  institution  in  question — in  which  purpose 
I  found  myself  encouraged  by  his  stern  approval. 

"  I  would  !  "  he  urged.  "  That's  the  way  to 
treat  'em." 

Yet  in  contemplating  these  ruthless  measures 
against  that  joint  stock  corporation,  with  its  seven 
millions  of  menaced  capital,  we  were  doing  nothing 
to  mend  our  own  fortunes,  which  had  reached  a 
sufficiently  low  ebb.  I  had  bought  the  penny 
postage  stamp  (to  send  a  written  application  to 
the  bank)  ;  so  we  were  three  hungry  men  with 
three  halfpence,  and  with  no  certainty  of  re- 
ceiving a  remittance  till  the  morning  after  the 
morrow. 

Shrinking  from  the  thought  of  so  prolonged  a 
fast,  I  entered  upon  a  solemn  consultation  with 
my  skipper,  requesting  that  he  would  bethink 
him  what  was  best  to  be  done. 

After    we    had     discussed     several     ingenious 


326     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

schemes,  and  reluctantly  abandoned  them,  one 
after  the  other,  because  of  their  impracticability, 
a  daring  thought  suddenly  flashed  into  my  mind. 
Why  not  fall  back  on  our  calling  as  fishermen  ? 
After  all,  we  had  our  vessel  and  our  nets.  Why  not 
catch  some  fish,  and  make  a  little  money  that  way  ? 

At  first  Gotty  thought  I  was  joking.  When  he 
found  me  in  earnest  he  seemed  to  think  I  must 
be  demented. 

"  'Ow  can  we  go  trawlin',"  he  indignantly  in- 
quired, "  when  we  dunno  the  ground  ?  Night- 
time and  all,  and  no  moon  ! " 

"  Some  one  was  saying  there's  clear  ground  east 
of  Port  Wrinkel,  if  you  keep  well  in." 

"  And  most  likely  go  ashore !  That'd  do  us  a 
lot  of  good,  wouldn't  it  ?  " 

"  We  have  our  lead,  and  surely  we  should  hear 
the  breakers.  It  seems  to  me  we  must  take  a 
little  risk,  or  starve.  But,  of  course,  if  you  think 
there's  too  much  danger,  that's  an  end  of  the 
matter." 

Gotty  did  not  at  once  reply,  and  it  was  a 
hopeful  sign  that,  when  he  did  so,  the  tone  of 
aggrieved  expostulation,  had  given  place  to  one 
of  thoughtful  inquiry. 

"  What  about  that  young  feller  sayin'  you  ain't 
allowed  ter  trawl  anywheres  along  this  coast  ?  " 

"  I  don't  believe  it." 

"  Well,  it  don't  'ardly  seem  reasonable,  do  it— 
ter  say  a  pore  man  shouldn't  'ave  the  charnse  to 
am  a  'a'penny.  Wicked  crool,  I  should  call  it." 

I  submitted  a  supplementary  suggestion — that 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      327 

we  seek  the  co-operation  of  a  local  fisherman, 
offering  him  a  moiety  of  such  revenues  as  might 
result  from  our  labours  in  the  safe  and  fruitful 
waters  to  which  he  should  pilot  us. 

Responding  to  this  modified  proposition  with  a 
grunt  that  might  have  meant  anything,  Gotty 
betook  himself  to  the  vessel's  stern,  where,  by  the 
light  of  a  lamp  on  the  harbour  wall,  I  saw  him 
mistily  as  a  still,  solitary  figure,  deep  in  meditation. 

"  Cast  'er  off  !  "  rang  out  the  sudden  injunction 
to  Cole,  who,  vaguely  aware  of  our  paralysing 
penury,  was  smoking  a  disconsolate  pipe  in  the 
cabin.  He  came  up  with  a  startled  face,  but, 
finding  Gotty  about  to  hoist  the  mainsail,  he  did 
not  pause  to  inquire  as  to  his  superior's  sanity 
or  sobriety,  but  straightway  applied  his  strength 
to  undoing  the  ropes  by  which  we  were  tethered 
fore  and  aft. 

Next  minute,  having  swung  into  the  stream,  the 
Betty,  leaning  over  in  the  breeze,  began  her 
passage  down  the  narrow  harbour,  Gotty,  with  an 
anxious  hand  on  the  tiller,  projecting  his  eye- 
sight into  the  darkness  beyond. 

As  we  raced  along  in  the  night,  ignoring  the 
well-meaning  but  unintelligible  instructions  shouted 
to  us  from  the  wall,  I  tardily  recalled  the  stress 
and  complications  which  had  attended  our  arrival 
in  broad  daylight,  at  that  haven  ;  so  that,  had  not 
the  time  for  choice  gone  by,  I  should  after  all 
have  voted  for  an  empty  larder  and  safety,  rather 
than  for  the  possibility  of  cash  with  the  certainty 
of  many  hours  in  darkness  and  danger. 


328     GOTTY   AND   THE  GUVNOR 

Great  was  my  relief  when  we  reached  the  open 
sea  ;  nor  was  the  wind  slow  in  taking  us  within 
sight  of  the  lights  of  Port  Wrinkel.  But  other 
and  mysterious  lights — eight  in  number — lay 
ahead  of  us,  in  a  situation  where  my  chart  and 
book  made  no  mention  of  any  illumination  on  the 
coast.  Even  as  we  gazed  askance  at  those  eight 
lights,  many  others  were  added  to  them,  until  we 
could  no  longer  doubt  that  a  long  line  of  pilchard 
boats  lay  fishing  right  across  the  area  in  which  we 
had  hoped  to  mend  our  fortunes. 

Neither  Gotty  nor  I  knew  aught  of  pilchards, 
and  the  way  they  are  caught,  but  as  Folkestone 
fishermen  often  buy  their  boats  from  the  West, 
Cole  had  a  certain  amount  of  second-hand  know- 
ledge on  the  subject.  His  revelations  were  highly 
disconcerting. 

"  We  can't  be  far  off  their  nets,"  he  ominously 
observed,  "  for  they  lay  half  a  mile  over  the  water  ; 
and  if  you  touch  'em  they  can  bleed  you  for  it. 
If  we  aren't  careful,  we  might  get  right  in  amongst 
'em,  and  then  there'd  be  a  nice  sum  to  pay.  I 
wouldn't  put  down  the  trawl  for  £60,  if  it  was  my 
boat.  But,"  he  added  more  cheerfully,  "you 
please  yourselves." 

Gotty  and  I,  anxiously  conferring  together, 
agreed  in  thinking  we  were  still  a  good  mile  from 
the  pilchard  boats,  which  now  showed  lights  to 
the  number  of  sixty-seven  (for  I  had  counted  the 
selfish  things).  On  the  other  hand,  we  were  not 
yet  quite  abreast  of  Port  Wrinkel. 

"Are  we  agoin'  ter  come  all  this  way,"  asked 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      329 

Gotty  incredulously,  "  and  then  not  'ave  a  try  ? 
I  don't  think.  'Ere — in  she  goes." 

The  trawl  went  down,  but,  alas,  so  speedily 
hugged  a  rock  that  we  had  to  pull  it  up  again.  A 
little  farther  on,  undaunted  Gotty  tried  once 
more,  but  with  the  same  result. 

"  Well,  this  is  all  right,  ain't  it  ?  "  he  exclaimed, 
perspiring  with  toil  and  annoyance.  "Them 
boats,"  he  cried,  in  sudden  heat,  "are  fair  on  our 
ground  ; "  and  the  aggressive  way  in  which  he 
glared  at  the  yellow  lights  seemed  to  reveal  him 
as  ready,  for  two  pins,  to  go  back  and  fetch  the 
Looe  police. 

"  What's  to  be  done  ? "  I  asked,  dismally  con- 
scious that  we  were  confronted  by  difficulties  of 
the  insuperable  order. 

"Oh,  I  ain't  beat — not  yet  I  ain't,"  replied  my 
skipper  stoutly,  adding,  as  an  instruction  to  his 
subordinate,  "  Shove  in  the  anchor." 

Having  put  up  our  riding  light  and  refreshed 
ourselves  with  a  pot  of  tea,  we  beguiled  two  hours 
with  dominoes,  Gotty  ever  and  anon  popping  up 
from  the  game  to  keep  himself  informed  of  de- 
velopments in  the  watery  world  around  us.  At 
last  the  time  came  when,  lingering  on  the  look- 
out, he  called  down  to  us : 

"Them  pilchers  are  movin'  off — and  time  they 
did !  'Ullow !  'Ere  comes  a  craft.  Wonder 
what  she's  after  so  fur  inshore." 

Going  up  to  look,  we  beheld  a  red  light  gaining 
rapidly  upon  us,  and  presently  a  great  black  shape, 
which  we  recognised  as  a  Plymouth  trawler,  was 


330     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

passing  within  hail.  West-country  lungs  de- 
manded to  be  told  the  time,  and  I  supplied  the 
information — 1.15  A.M.  Then  from  the  stranger 
there  arose  a  noise  of  cog-wheels  and  commo- 
tion which  conveyed  a  glad  message  to  Gotty's 
heart. 

tf  'E's  puttin'  'is  trawl  down.  Good  enough  ! 
Up  anchor.  Look  sharp." 

In  a  trice  we  were  sailing  in  the  wake  of  that 
vessel,  which  was  already  lost  to  view,  and 
although  the  course  seemed  straight  for  the  shore, 
we  could  have  no  misgivings  when  superior  ton- 
nage led  the  way.  Our  trawl  now  down,  on  we 
pitched,  our  equanimity  heightened  by  the  sight 
of  all  those  embarrassing  yellow  lights  streaming 
seaward. 

On  spying  the  starboard  light  of  the  Plymouth 
trawler  some  half-hour  later,  we  laid  to  and 
hauled ;  when  our  satisfactory  recompense  took 
the  form  of  two  large  soles,  a  young  turbot,  and 
nine  good-sized  plaice,  with  a  few  roker  and  other 
fish  of  minor  marketable  importance. 

To  sail  back,  and  haul  again  over  approximately 
the  same  ground,  was  a  task  of  no  difficulty  to 
Gotty,  who  steers  through  darkness  by  some  clear 
instinct  of  his  own.  A  second  and  third  haul 
were  equal  to  the  first  ;  and  on  we  went  fishing. 

At  three  o'clock  a  brilliant  inspiration  came 
upon  me  ;  and  I  systematically  overhauled  the 
box  in  which  unpopular  items  of  our  original 
stores  had  been  stowed.  There,  sure  enough,  I 
found  a  packet  of  ground  rice,  which  the  skipper 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      331 

had  discarded  with  soap  and  soda  in  the  belief 
that  it  partook  of  the  same  character.  My  hungry 
shipmates  knew  not  to  what  end  I  had  tarried  so 
long  in  the  cabin  ;  but  when  I  took  them  each  a 
steaming  plate  of  the  nutritious  diet  in  question, 
with  marmalade  copiously  added,  their  eyes  were 
opened  and  their  hearts  touched. 

There  being  an  autumnal  coldness  in  the  night 
air,  I  did  a  further  piece  of  benevolence  in  lending 
each  of  them  an  overcoat.  In  Gotty's  case  the 
garment  fitted  so  closely  that  it  strongly  resembled 
a  black  frock-coat,  so  that,  a  shower  having  caused 
him  to  don  his  sou'wester,  the  figure  of  which  I 
caught  occasional  glimpses  in  the  lamplight,  as 
he  bustled  about  in  the  discharge  of  his  successful 
labours,  conveyed  a  droll  dual  suggestion  of  a 
general  practitioner  and  a  dustman. 

The  wind  dropping  before  the  dawn,  there  was 
some  falling  off  in  the  richness  of  our  later  hauls  ; 
but  it  was  with  two  fine  trunks  of  fish  that  we 
returned  to  Looe,  triumphant  but  tired,  at  six 
o'clock.  Leaving  the  bawley  anchored  outside 
the  jetty  we  rowed  into  the  harbour,  where  Cole 
remained  in  charge  of  our  fish  while  Gotty  and  I 
set  forth  to  find  a  purchaser. 

"  Them  two  boxes,"  said  my  companion,  as  we 
hurried  towards  a  part  of  the  quay  where  we  had 
seen  fishermen  land  their  catches,  "  are  worth 
thirty  shillin's  of  anybody's  money " — at  which 
words  I  saw  a  beautiful  mental  picture  of  poached 
eggs  and  fried  rashers.  For,  in  truth,  I  fain  would 
break  my  fast. 


332     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

That  Gotty's  emotions  bore  a  close  resemblance 
to  my  own  was  attested  by  his  next  remark : 

"  I  tell  yer  what  I  could  do  with.  That's  a 
nice  plate  o'  cold  meat  and  onions.  Not  'alf  I 
couldn't." 

"  Ah  !  "  I  greedily  exclaimed,  "  we  shan't  have 
to  wait  much  longer  now." 

A  minute  later  and  I  should  have  lacked  heart 
to  utter  those  bold  words.  For  sparrows  proved 
to  be  the  only  living  creatures  in  the  locality 
where  we  had  hoped  to  find  salesmen. 

Walking  on,  we  came  presently  to  a  black- 
bearded  fisherman  whom  we  besought  to  acquaint 
us  with  local  facilities  for  selling  one's  catch. 
Readily  lending  assistance  to  brother-craftsmen 
hailing  from  a  distant  port,  he  explained  that, 
there  being  no  market  at  Looe,  you  had  to  send 
your  fish  by  rail  to  Liskeard  ;  and  he  gave  us  the 
name  of  a  consigner  from  whom,  he  was  confi- 
dent, we  should  receive  fair  treatment,  and  a  just 
remittance  on  the  following  Saturday. 

Too  proud  to  explain  that  our  physical  needs 
would  not  brook  a  financial  delay  of  three  hours, 
leave  alone  three  days,  we  thanked  the  Cornish- 
man  for  his  well-intentioned  explanations,  and  set 
off  for  the  main  thoroughfare. 

The  shops  were  not  yet  open,  but,  seeing  signs 
of  life  in  one  of  the  principal  hotels,  I  bade  Gotty 
enter  that  establishment  and  ask  if  they  would 
not  like  a  nice  lot  of  prime  fish  for  their  visitors. 

As,  having  rung  the  bell,  he  stood  bashfully  on 
the  hotel  mat,  I — lurking  behing  an  outhouse  up 


WALKING  ON,  WE  CAME  PRESENTLY  TO  A  BLACKBEARUED  FISHER- 
MAN WHOM  WE  BESOUGHT  TO  ACQUAINT  US  WITH  LOCAL  FACILITIES 
FOR    SELLING   ONE'S   CATCH. 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      333 

an  alley  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  way — awaited 
developments  with  a  beating  heart. 

Gotty  was  invited  within,  and  when  at  last  he 
reappeared  I  drew  a  hopeful  inference  from  his 
dignified  deportment. 

"  Wonderful  civil  spoken  'e  was,"  I  learnt, 
"  and  comin'  acrost  ter  see  the  fish  when  'e's 
'ad  'is  breakfast." 

We  occupied  the  tedious  interregnum  in  im- 
patiently pacing  to  and  fro  upon  the  quay  ;  and 
when  we  ultimately  espied  the  glutton  (for  a  man 
who  took  so  long  over  a  meal  could  be  nothing 
else)  he  was  strolling  towards  us  with  his  hands 
in  his  pockets,  as  though  stupidly  unconscious 
that  there  may  be  occasions  when  one  should 
hurry. 

Of  our  fish  he  was  pleased  to  speak  in  terms  of 
eulogy,  but,  shaking  a  regretful  head,  he  explained 
that  there  was  far  too  much  for  him  to  buy. 

"  Twenty-five  shillin's  won't  'urt  yer,"  observed 
persuasive  Gotty. 

"  No,"  the  hotel  manager  was  good  enough  to 
say,  "  that's  not  much  for  all  those  fish.  But  I 
could  never  get  rid  of  so  many.  Look  here,  you 
go  up  to  one  of  the  other  hotels  and  see  if  they 
won't  take  half.  Then  I'll  have  the  rest  ; "  and  by 
way  of  showing  that  this  was  his  ultimatum,  he 
departed. 

Without  a  word,  Gotty  shouldered  the  box  of 
prime,  and  he  and  I  set  off  to  find  another  hotel. 
The  skipper's  exit  therefrom  was  almost  simul- 
taneous with  his  entrance,  and  I  gathered  that 


334     GOTTY  AND   THE   GUVNOR 

the  proprietor's  manner  of  declining  business  over- 
tures had  been  abrupt.  At  another  hotel  he 
lingered  longer,  but  finally  emerged  with  a  woeful 
countenance,  and  still  bearing  his  burden. 

"  She  fingered  'em  all  over,"  he  told  me,  scarce 
able  to  contain  himself  with  indignation,  "  and 
then  she  said  she'd  'ave  three  pair  of  soles  and 
give  me  sixpence  a  pound  for  'em.  '  What ! '  I 
says,  '  you  pick  out  all  the  best.  That's  not 
reasonable,'  I  says.  Then  she  up  and  said  she 
'adn't  got  no  more  time  ter  talk  with  the  likes  of 
me.  So  I  says,  '  Good  mornin',  lady,'  and  come 
away." 

The  shops  were  now  opening,  and,  faint  from 
the  want  of  food,  sleep,  and  a  little  human 
sympathy,  we  wandered  about  in  search  of  a 
fishmonger's.  But  a  protracted  pilgrimage  to 
and  fro  in  the  streets  of  East  and  West  Looe, 
while  it  disclosed  a  tantalising  succession  of 
butchers  and  bakers,  failed  to  make  us  ac- 
quainted with  premises  of  the  desired  character. 
A  sausage-shop  was  the  nearest  approximation  to 
what  we  sought,  and,  noting  an  empty  area  of 
its  window-space,  I  urged  my  companion  to 
approach  the  proprietor  and  point  out  that,  even 
though  he  were  not  in  the  habit  of  selling  fish, 
he  might  advantageously  utilise  his  marble  slab 
in  introducing  that  feature  as  a  supplement  to 
his  ordinary  business. 

At  first  the  skipper  was  shy  of  submitting  this 
suggestion  to  the  sausage-maker,  but  I  murmured 
"  Cold  meat  and  onions,"  and  in  he  went. 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      335 

However,  my  ingenious  scheme  for  benefiting 
that  Looe  shopkeeper  came  to  naught. 

"  Says  'e  don't  want  no  fish,"  Gotty  on  rejoining 
me  explained,  his  tone  testifying  to  a  temper 
somewhat  ruffled.  "  When  I  said  he  might  do 
worse,  seein'  'e'd  'ave  all  the  compertition  to 
'isself,  'e  turned  saucy." 

Nor  did  my  next  proposition  serve  to  restore 
the  equanimity  which  that  interview  had  disturbed. 
It  was  this :  that  we  should  dispose  of  our  catch 
piecemeal,  letting  the  lady  have  her  three  pairs  of 
soles,  inviting  the  hotel-keeper  whom  we  had  first 
approached  to  supply  his  limited  requirements, 
and  then  seeking  customers  for  the  remainder. 

"  But  that's  'awkin' ! "  cried  scandalised  Gotty. 
" '  Where's  yer  licence,  my  man,'  one  of  them 
coppers  'd  be  askin'  ;  and  then  where'd  we  be  ? 
You're  allowed  ter  sell  all  yer  fish  tergether,  but 
ter  go  from  door  ter  door,  a  few  'ere  and  a  few 
there — why,  didn't  you  know  that's  'awkin'  ?  " 

But  indeed  my  conscious  knowledge  was  limited 
to  the  one  strident  fact  that  I  was  an  hungered. 
"  Tommy,"  I  cried,  turning  to  a  little  boy  carrying 
a  pail  of  milk,  "  where  is  there  a  fish-shop  ?  " 

The  open-eyed  youngster  explained  that  there 
wasn't  one.  He  added  that,  if  we  wanted  to  buy 
some  fish,  we  could  do  so  from  a  cart  that  drove 
into  Looe  every  morning.  We  eagerly  inquired 
the  probable  hour  of  its  arrival.  The  boy  thought 
it  might  come  at  any  moment  now. 

For  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  as  two  pathetic 
figures  sitting  on  the  stone  bridge,  we  closely 


336     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

studied  the  vehicular  traffic.  Two  carts  of  un- 
certain aspect  Gotty  ventured  to  stop.  One  proved 
to  contain  meat,  while  the  other  was  the  property 
of  a  farmer,  and  in  neither  case  were  our  apologies 
very  graciously  received.  At  the  second  of  these 
disappointments  my  skipper  so  far  forgot  himself 
as  to  petulantly  proclaim  a  disposition  to  fling  all 
our  fish  in  the  water. 

Desiring  him  to  do  no  such  thing,  I  proposed 
that  he  carry  our  prime  to  the  hotel-keeper  we 
had  interviewed  on  landing,  and  let  him  have  the 
lot  at  his  own  price. 

On  this  errand  he  was  so  long  gone  that,  walk- 
ing up  and  down  outside,  I  allowed  my  mind  to 
foster  an  ugly  suspicion  that  he  had  accepted  an 
invitation  to  stay  to  breakfast.  But  this  unworthy 
misgiving  was  banished  in  the  joy  of  beholding 
him  issue  from  the  hotel  with  the  empty  fish-box 
poised  sideways  on  his  head. 

"  Yes,"  he  explained,  "  'e's  took  'em.  But  you 
dunno  what  a  job  I  'ad  ter  git  'im  to " ;  and 
exhausted  Gotty  passed  a  coat-sleeve  across  his 
damp  brow.  "  Fust  'e  said  no  ;  'e  didn't  want 
'em.  *  Beggin'  your  pardin,  sir,'  I  says,  '  but  you 
promised  ter  take  'alf.'  '  Yus,'  says  'e,  '  but  since 
then  four  of  my  wisitors  'ave  gorn  away,  so  now 
there's  no  one  to  eat  'em.'  '  Well,  there  you  are,' 
I  says,  '  take  the  lot  fer  fifteen  shillin's.'  No,  'e 
wouldn't.  So  I  come  down  ter  twelve-and-six. 
But  it  wasn't  no  good  ;  and  after  a  lot  more  talk, 
I  says  'e  could  'ave  'em  fer  seven-and-six,  seein' 
I  was  fair  sick  o'  carryin'  'em  about.  And  at 


BANKRUPT   AT   CORNWALL      337 

fust  'e  says  no  ter  seven-and-six,  so  I  'ad  ter 
reg'lar  go  down  on  my  'ands  and  knees  and  beg 
and  pray  'im  ter  take  'em.  Then  at  larst  'e  give 
way.  But  jest  fancy,  a  nice  lot  of  fish  like  that 
fer  seven-and-six ! " 

Gotty  seemed  broken-hearted.  But  I  cared 
nothing  about  the  disproportion  between  price 
and  value.  Rather  let  me  say  that  I  was  pre- 
pared to  welcome  any  current  coin,  silver  or 
bronze,  as  more  precious  than  rubies,  leave  alone 
fish. 

"  Where's  the  money,  Gotty  ?  "  and  I  held  out  a 
tremulous  palm. 

"  'E  never  give  it  me,"  was  the  appalling  answer 
I  received.  "  Says  'e'll  bring  it  out  when  'e  can 
find  time  ter  go  to  'is  cash-box." 

For  half-an-hour  we  hovered  about  that  hotel  ; 
and  once  when  I  saw  the  proprietor  step  to  his 
threshold,  smoking  a  cigarette  at  full  leisure,  I 
had  it  in  my  heart  to  run  across  the  road  and 
do  him  a  personal  injury.  Finally,  losing  all 
patience,  I  sent  Gotty  in  for  the  money,  with 
which  he  promptly  reappeared. 

It  was  characteristic  of  my  skipper  that,  having 
seen  this  matter  to  a  conclusion,  his  disengaged 
thoughts  at  once  turned  to  the  bawley. 

"  I'll  go  ter  the  'ead  of  the  pier  and  see  if 
she's  all  right,"  he  anxiously  remarked,  "  if  you 
wouldn't  mind  doin'  the  shoppin'  ; "  and,  having 
handed  me  five  of  the  dear-bought  shillings,  he 
hurried  away. 

Darting  into  a  fruit  shop,  I  laid  out  three  half- 

Y 


338     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

pence  in  a  luxurious  William  pear,  and  its  flavour, 
should  I  live  to  be  a  hundred,  is  likely  to  endure 
as  a  thrilling  memory. 

Afterwards  I  bought  two  delightfully  warm, 
sweet-smelling  loaves  of  bread,  half  a  pound  of 
delicious-looking  butter,  and  a  quarter  of  a  pound 
of  tobacco. 

Having  tried  us  so  sorely,  Fate  had  indeed 
relented,  how  completely  I  realised  when,  on 
calling  at  the  post-office,  I  found  .£5  from  my 
banker  and  the  postal  remittance  which,  by 
travelling  from  town  in  an  ill-directed  envelope, 
was  the  cause  of  all  our  trouble. 


XXVII 

HOMEWARD   IN  A   HURRICANE 

AND  the  day  came  when  the  Betty  passed  from 
heaving  waters  of  the  open  sea,  and  glided  into 
a  river  that  was  broad  and  still  and  beautiful — 
a  perspective  of  repose  and  velvet  hills  where, 
travelling  through  green  reflections,  we  were 
among  the  little  singing  birds. 

This  was  Helford  River,  the  western  limit  of 
our  voyage — a  fairy  region  with  foregrounds  of 
fern  and  purple  rocks  ;  and  beyond  a  headland 
smoothly  clothed  with  oak  trees  we  found  an 
ancient  ruin  of  turreted  masonry,  grey  and  peace- 
ful. All  other  things  were  also  tranquil :  elms 
and  their  cawing  population  ;  three  homely  houses 
with  frontages  of  sunshine,  limewash,  and  ivy  ;  a 
little  white  boat  that  lay  on  the  shore  ;  and  five 
pink  pigs. 

Gotty  paid  this  Cornish  paradise  the  supreme 
compliment  of  recognising  it  as  the  very  place 
where,  given  the  opportunity,  he  would  elect  to 
live  in  pensioned  retirement. 

"  With  a  pound  a  week,"  he  explained,  in  a 
flight  of  fancy  foreign  to  his  usual  style,  "and 
pick  up  a  oyster  or  two,  or  it  might  be  dig  a 


339 


340     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

few  worms,  I  could  make  a  do  of  it,  it's  a  fact 
I  could." 

And  indeed,  with  all  that  end  of  England,  so 
far  as  we  explored  it,  he,  Cole,  and  I  were  highly 
pleased.  Each  place  left  its  vivid  impression. 
Falmouth,  that  panorama,  we  entered  at  night, 
and  only  escaped  the  Black  Rock  by  accident — 
the  erring  pilot  supposing  it  where  it  was  not. 
At  Fowey  we  anchored  beside  Lord  Brassey's 
Sunbeam,  and  were  soon  in  conversation  with  a 
talented  Polruan  parrot.  Spotless  Polperro,  visited 
on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  looked  prosperously 
picturesque.  At  Mevagissey  we  were  courteously 
conducted  over  premises  where,  by  workers  and 
ways  faultlessly  clean,  two  million  pilchards  were 
being  cured  and  packed  for  humble,  discerning 
Italians.  Noble  Plymouth  proved  to  contain  a 
fish  market  that  appalled  us  in  the  morning  and 
a  music  hall  that  delighted  us  at  night. 

And  now  the  autumn  was  well  advanced,  so 
that  Gotty  grew  concerned  for  our  comfort  and 
safety  in  returning  ;  and  each  was  sick  for  a  sight 
of  his  home. 

Our  programme  was  to  provision  for  three 
days,  hoist  the  dinghey  on  deck,  and  then,  getting 
out  into  the  Channel,  run  to  Folkestone  without 
pausing  on  the  way. 

But  the  wind  blew  strong  and  contrary ;  and 
after  tacking  for  fourteen  hours  we  were  glad 
to  find  shelter  at  Fowey. 

"  It  ain't  no  good,"  exhausted  Gotty  admitted. 
"  We  must  wait  till  the  wind  gets  round." 


HOMEWARD   IN   A   HURRICANE     341 

But  two  days  later,  though  the  weather  had 
not  altered,  our  impatience  caused  us  to  try 
again. 

We  made  a  good  fight  of  it,  but  after  a  day 
and  a  night  of  monotonous  misery  we  revisited 
Plymouth  with  certain  details  of  our  rigging 
snapped  and  hanging. 

"  Everlastin'  turn  and  turn,"  deplored  the 
indignant  skipper,  "  and  what  good  is  it  ?  We 
don't  make  no  'eadway,  and  everything  strainin' 
and  flappin'  ?  Why,  we  shan't  'ave  a  rag  left 
flyin'  if  we  ain't  careful.  I  shan't  leave  this  'ere 
'arbour  not  till  the  wind  gets  round  ter  the  west- 
'ard — there  you  are." 

And  the  set  jaw  revealed  an  emphatic  determina- 
tion to  abide  by  that  wise  decision.  Two  depressing 
and  annoying  days  went  by,  and  still  the  wind  blew 
from  the  east.  It  seemed  to  be  doing  so  on  purpose. 

"What  d'yer  say,"  said  Gotty,  feverish  with 
home  sickness,  "  if  we  'ave  another  try  ?  If  it's 
only  a  few  miles,  that'll  make  it  less  fur  ter  go 
when  the  wind  does  shift  round  ;  and  we  ain't 
gettin'  no  nearer  'ome  all  the  while  we  lay  'ere, 
are  we  ?  " 

Cole  and  I,  suffering  acutely  from  the  skipper's 
complaint,  eagerly  endorsed  his  reasoning  ;  and 
once  more  we  set  forth  to  wrestle  with  the 
elements. 

Ten  hours  later  the  Betty  was  contending  against 
a  great  grey  sea  that  raged  around  the  Start.  We 
ran  aslant  in  parallel  lines  to  and  from  the  shore, 
obstinately  refusing  to  admit  defeat  until  a  rope 


342     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

snapped  with  a  shriek,  and  down  came  the  main- 
sail, a  goodly  portion  whereof,  with  the  end  of  the 
gaff,  drooping  over  into  the  water.  In  some 
anxiety  we  dragged  our  property  on  board,  and 
then,  turning  tail,  flew  before  the  wind. 

We  had  urgent  need  of  the  nearest  harbour, 
but  I  was  too  good  a  navigator  to  suppose  myself 
a  match  for  the  rocks  of  Salcombe.  However,  we 
ran  within  shelter  of  Bolt  Head,  and  a  local  pilot 
came  out  and  took  us  in  for  half-a-crown — this 
being  the  only  occasion  of  our  following  the 
Woodbridge  Haven  precedent. 

Even  the  exquisite  scenery  of  Salcombe  could 
not  reconcile  us  to  delay.  Blackberrying  expedi- 
tions were  marred  by  constant  denunciation  of 
the  east  wind,  with  which,  indeed,  Gotty  became 
so  vexed  that  he  passed  unwarranted  criticisms  on 
Cole,  who  was  goaded  into  an  expression  of  regret 
that  he  had  ever  come  with  us,  at  which  I  sought 
relief  to  my  feelings  by  giving  them  both  a  good 
lecture  ;  to  such  deplorable  lengths  did  a  love  of 
home  impel  the  three  retarded  mariners. 

We  had  once  more  vowed  not  to  resume  our 
voyage  till  the  wind  veered  round  ;  and  once  more 
we  were  forsworn.  Having  spliced  our  broken 
ropes,  we  adventured  out  again  in  the  teeth  of 
that  hostile  wind,  and  set  ourselves  to  round  the 
Start.  That  the  task  demanded  a  certain  amount 
of  doggedness  we  had  received  a  hint  prior  to  our 
recent  experience.  For  a  torpedo  boat  that  arrived 
at  Plymouth  while  we  were  there,  reported  broken 
crockery  and  other  small  misfortunes  ;  and,  Cole 


HOMEWARD   IN   A   HURRICANE     343 

having  an  uncle  in  the  town  whose  son  was  one  of 
the  crew,  word  reached  us  that  the  iron  craft  had 
incurred  that  internal  derangement  while  rolling  in 
boisterous  waters  off  the  Start. 

It  took  us  all  day  to  do  it,  but  we  got  past,  and 
— grim  disappointment — found  worse  water  on 
the  other  side.  It  was  the  sea's  cruel  whim  to 
break  upon  our  vessel  and  deluge  us  with  spray  ; 
so  that,  after  three  more  hours  of  obstinate 
endurance,  all  spirit  was  blown  out  of  the  three 
saturated  adventurers,  and  they  ran  for  shelter  to 
Torquay. 

Completely  baffled,  there  we  lay,  impatient  and 
petulant,  for  three  nights  and  two  days.  Then 
came  the  morning  when  I  awoke  to  what  seemed 
a  dream.  Gotty  was  singing — not  merely  humming 
a  hymn,  as  was  the  poor  level  of  his  recent  vocal 
efforts  ;  but  singing  with  all  his  throat,  like  a 
blackbird.  And  the  hold  opening — my  window 
in  the  ceiling — had  lost  some  of  its  breadth. 

Sitting  up  in  bed  to  clear  my  wits,  I  guessed  the 
truth.  Our  dinghey  was  on  deck.  The  wind  had 
changed.  It  was  twanging  our  rigging  to  the  tune 
of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home." 

Away  we  went,  not  tarrying  for  fresh  stores,  for 
time  was  more  valuable  than  new  bread,  and  what 
if  the  water  cask  were  half  empty  ? 

"  Why,"  exclaimed  Gotty  as,  having  curved  out 
of  Torbay,  we  charged  the  open  sea  on  a  strong 
straight  line,  "if  the  wind  keeps  in  the  west'ard, 
and  don't  fall  away  too  much,  we  oughter  be  in 
Folkestin'  the  day  arter  termorrer.  It  blows 


344     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

wonderful  steady — reg'lar  walkin'  through  the 
water  she  is.  In  by  Wednesday  mornin'  I 
shouldn't  wonder.  Yer  see,  she  don't  feel  the 
punt  now  it's  aboard.  Goes  twice  as  easy,  she 
does,  not  'aving  all  that  dead  weight  ter  pull. 
If  the  wind  don't  drop.  That's  all  I'm  afraid  of." 

On  that  point  he  spoke  Cole's  thoughts  and 
mine.  Because  perfection  seemed  too  good  to 
last,  we  feared  a  diminution  of  zeal  on  the  part 
of  the  wind. 

But  these  timorous  misgivings  proved  without 
warrant.  So  far  from  lessening,  the  aerial 
velocity  increased.  Our  mast  ofttimes  stood  at 
a  considerable  slant,  and  the  sea  came  on  board 
at  the  bow  in  gurgling  mounds  of  frothy  unrest, 
then  streamed  down  the  deck  and  escaped  hissing 
through  the  scuppers.  Some  passed  into  the 
hold,  where,  on  going  below  to  consult  my  chart, 
I  found  disconcerting  patches  of  wetness  on  my 
books,  my  clothes,  and  my  bed.  But  we  were 
going  home  fast.  And  faster  and  faster. 

Being  well  out  in  the  Channel,  we  had  no 
occasion  to  concern  ourselves  with  navigation 
subtleties,  and  this  was  just  as  well,  for  the  pilot 
did  not  feel  quite  himself.  He  was  cold  and  wet, 
for  one  thing,  and  he  was  beginning  to  have  a 
headache,  for  another. 

When  day  faded,  Portland  was  far  astern,  and 
we  were  south  of  the  Anvil  light.  All  the  reefs 
were  taken  in.  The  weather  showed  no  signs  of 
abating  its  boisterousness. 

The  question  of  running  for  shelter  to  the  Isle 


HOMEWARD   IN   A   HURRICANE     345 

of  Wight  was  raised,  but  only  to  be  unanimously 
negatived.  No  one  was  more  prompt  than  the  poor 
pilot  in  resisting  the  suggestion.  He  now  makes 
frank  confession  that  he  would  joyfully  have  gone 
into  harbour  if  only  his  swimming  brain  had  been 
equal  to  the  task  of  reading  up  the  necessary 
particulars.  The  lesser  evil  was  to  continue 
sitting,  damp  and  impassive,  on  the  provision 
chest,  dully  wondering  if  the  storm  would  never 
cease. 

At  midnight  he  put  forth  a  great  effort,  and 
bestirred  himself  to  the  extent  of  thrusting  an 
inquisitive  head  into  the  open  air.  St.  Catherine's 
light  shone  brightly  in  the  north  ;  and  no  sooner 
had  he  made  that  observation  than  about  a  quart 
of  sea  water  leapt  over  the  dinghey  and  smote 
him  on  the  head,  icy  trickles  running  down  his 
spine.  Stung  into  a  certain  amount  of  life,  he 
fumbled  about  until  he  found  his  lamp,  with  which, 
having  succeeded  in  lighting  it,  he  scrutinised  his 
apartment,  if  haply  he  might  find  a  dry  spot  on 
which  to  deposit  himself.  But,  with  moisture 
dripping  everywhere,  the  place  had  rather  the 
look  of  a  grotto  than  a  hold. 

My  bed  was  saturated,  and  a  sheet  of  water  was 
ebbing  and  flowing  across  the  oilcloth.  Boxes 
and  my  smaller  belongings  were  passing  harshly  to 
and  fro,  in  obedience  to  the  rolling  of  the  vessel. 
A  special  lurch  deprived  me  of  the  support  of  a 
chest,  and  abrupt  developments  were  associated 
with  the  extinction  and  loss  of  my  lamp.  Ex- 
tricating myself  from  those  difficulties,  I  once 


346     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

more  protruded  into  the  open  air,  just  in  time  to 
receive  about  a  bucketful  of  cold  sea  at  the  back 
of  my  neck. 

In  oilskins,  sea-boots,  and  sou'westers,  Gotty 
and  Cole  were  encased  against  those  sharp  dis- 
comforts ;  my  own  wardrobe  including  nothing 
appropriate  to  a  gale.  But  I  submitted  the  less 
rebelliously  to  the  disability  on  reflecting  that  my 
better-clothed  companions  were  doing  all  the 
work. 

Another  subject  of  my  unspoken  envy  was  the 
way  in  which,  clutching  at  this  and  that,  Cole 
succeeded,  when  occasion  arose,  in  traversing  the 
deck  without  suffering  himself  to  be  borne  over- 
board. Fain  would  I  accomplish  a  gymnastic 
expedition  of  the  sort  ;  for  my  inclination  lay 
towards  the  cabin,  which  did  not  leak,  and  where 
a  fire  was  burning.  Ultimately,  and  with  great 
circumspection,  I  essayed  and  achieved  the  feat, 
much  as  a  monkey  climbs  a  tree. 

There  was  no  comfort  in  the  cabin.  I  put 
coal  on  the  dying  embers,  and  Gotty  must  have 
noted  the  augmented  smoke,  for  Cole  struggled  to 
the  hatchway,  and  bade  me  suffer  the  fire  to  die 
down.  Before  that  could  be,  the  Betty  indulged  in 
a  shuddering  spasm  which  emptied  the  grate  on 
to  the  floor,  besides  working  mischief  (as  the  din 
attested)  in  our  crockery  locker. 

Afterwards  came  many  upheavals  of  the  sort. 
Water  dripped  through  the  deck,  and  spray  came 
down  the  hatchway  like  rain.  I  sat  or  squatted 
in  several  situations,  but  always  the  lawless  lurch- 


HOMEWARD   IN   A   HURRICANE     347 

ing  of  my  apartment  threw  me  elsewhere.  Lying 
embedded  in  a  heap  of  sails,  I  finally  found  stable 
quarters,  and  I  remained  there,  listening  to  the 
roar  of  wind  and  water,  for  many  hours. 

It  was  my  opinion  that  the  bawley  would  not 
founder.  Getting  into  that  cold  water  seemed  a 
thing  so  pitifully  distressing  that,  by  a  piece  of 
sublime  egotism,  I  could  not  believe  I  should  be 
called  upon  to  do  it.  And,  indeed,  physical  [dis- 
comforts apart,  there  is  a  sense  in  which  I  was,  so 
to  speak,  enjoying  myself.  It  was  drama,  bold 
and  spacious.  Above,  below,  and  all  round  Nature 
was  in  a  passion — the  same  Nature  which  had 
ofttimes  lulled  me  with  rosebuds,  blue  sky,  and 
linnets.  In  weak  moments,  during  that  awful 
night,  how  I  longed  for  the  sight  and  feel  of  land 
— if  it  were  only  a  little  in  a  flower-pot. 

At  about  ten  o'clock  I  came  half-way  up  the 
hatchway  and  looked  about  me.  The  moist  world 
was  tinted  in  degrees  of  grey.  Swollen  masses  of 
water  ran  towards  us  in  unending  succession, 
and  each  on  drawing  near  loomed  down  upon  us  ; 
but  it  got  underneath  the  Betty,  and  rolled  her 
about,  and  hurried  on  its  way.  At  certain  angles 
of  the  pitching  I  saw  Beachy  Head.  We  were 
going  home  at  a  pace  far  outstripping  our  most 
hopeful  anticipations. 

Astern,  there  were  my  shipmates,  figures  of 
rigid  endurance,  Gotty  still  at  the  helm.  At 
about  noon,  to  get  within  earshot  of  them,  I 
clambered  across  to  the  hold. 

On  the  previous  afternoon  we  noted  a  schooner 


348     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

putting  back  into  Portland.  Since  then  the 
Channel  had  seemed  empty  of  sailing  craft.  But 
we  saw  many  rolling  steamers,  bravely  breasting 
the  weather. 

In  the  early  evening  we  were  being  hurled 
towards  Dungeness.  Suddenly,  to  the  confusion 
of  the  helmsman,  land  was  blotted  from  sight  as 
by  a  fog.  Having  been  continuously  drenched 
all  day  by  spray,  we  did  not  readily  recognise  that 
now  we  were  also  in  a  torrent  of  rain. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  headland  we  en- 
countered our  worst  weather.  The  Betty  only 
carried  her  mainsail,  storm-reefed,  and  a  small 
jib.  Yet  so  nearly  did  she  heel  over  that  Gotty 
perceived  the  necessity  of  lowering  the  former. 
Tackling  his  urgent  and  difficult  task  with  spirit, 
Cole  soon  had  the  gaff  on  deck.  The  sea  all 
around  us  was  churned  into  whiteness.  With 
only  a  little  triangle  of  canvas  over  the  bowsprit, 
the  Betty  flew  across  Dungeness  Bay. 

Would  there  be  water  in  Folkestone  harbour  ? 
Gotty  shouted  in  my  ear  that  I  must  learn  the 
time  of  the  tide.  Somehow  I  got  to  the  cabin  ; 
and,  to  save  me  the  hazard  of  a  return  journey, 
Cole  came  crawling  to  the  hatchway  for  that  vital 
information. 

It  wanted  two  hours  to  high  water.  With  my 
head  out  of  the  cabin  opening,  I  anxiously  awaited 
Gotty's  solution  of  the  difficulty.  He  gave  the 
helm  to  Cole,  and  himself  came  forward  and 
lowered  our  remaining  sail.  Then  so  consider- 
able a  volume  of  water  rose  from  the  side 


HOMEWARD   IN   A   HURRICANE     349 

and  descended  upon  me  that  I  withdrew  into 
shelter.  The  next  minute  our  vessel  received  a 
blow  that  sounded  like  a  clap  of  thunder  ;  a 
tremor  passed  through  her  framework,  and  I 
heard  an  avalanche  of  water  fall  on  deck. 

Amid  the  howling  of  the  gale,  Gotty's  agonised 
shout  could  not  have  reached  Cole.  But  the 
wind  carried  it  to  me,  and  also  I  heard  the 
skipper  fling  himself  back  to  the  stern.  The  less 
expert  hand  had  held  the  helm  ;  and  to  ship  two 
seas  of  that  character  in  quick  succession  might 
have  meant  disaster.  With  our  dinghey  sprawl- 
ing across  the  opening,  we  could  not — as  now  I 
realised — batten  down  the  hatchways.  Cole  was 
slaving  at  the  pump,  and,  when  I  judged  his 
strength  to  be  spent,  I  clambered  across  and 
relieved  him. 

With  bare  rigging,  for  an  hour  and  a  half 
the  Betty  staggered  in  that  raging  sea.  Impatient 
to  the  point  of  pain,  with  the  wind  assaulting  all 
my  senses,  I  lived  through  a  long  experience  of 
swinging  on  and  on,  and  still  for  ever  on,  in  a 
lost  equilibrium  of  air  and  water  madly  mingled. 
But  at  last  (for  the  tide  bore  us  towards  the  shore) 
I  beheld  the  harbour  lights — rigid  stars  of  com- 
posure ;  comfortable  reminders  that,  with  good 
luck,  we  soon  should  pass  from  that  quaking 
realm  of  boisterous  upheaval,  and  return  to  the 
dear  old  solid  land,  where  roads  and  kerbstones 
and  houses  remained  obediently  still. 

Hoist  by  Cole,  our  jib  stood  against  the  might 
of  the  wind  ;  and,  all  athrill,  we  ran  for  the 


350    GOTTY   AND  THE   GUVNOR 

entrance  lights,  the  tiller  in  Gotty's  tough  grip. 
Then  came  the  sudden  relief  of  sheltered  water, 
and  the  Betty,  at  peace  at  last,  glided  among  the 
multitude  of  moored  luggers  in  Folkestone  harbour. 
A  lifetime  had  elapsed  since  we  left  Torquay — 
but  a  lifetime  of  only  thirty-two  hours. 

Into  the  public  bar  of  a  little  inn  went  Gotty 
and  I — two  haggard  and  dishevelled  figures,  drip- 
ping with  salt  water  and  rain.  I  think  it  was 
not  the  rum  we  met  with,  but  the  reception,  that 
put  warmth  into  my  companion.  That  group 
of  veteran  fishermen,  sociably  assembled  under 
shelter,  broke  into  exclamations  of  honest  astonish- 
ment when  we  went  splashing  into  their  midst. 

"  You've  come  through  it,  then  ! "  cried  one. 

"  So  that  little  boat  o'  yourn,"  observed  another, 
with  respectful  eyebrows  raised,  "  can  stand  a 
bit  o'  weather  ! " 

"  Evenin'/'  replied  Gotty,  in  friendly  greeting 
to  one  and  all  ;  and  not  till  he  had  swallowed 
the  first  dose  of  my  prescription  did  he  vouchsafe 
any  relief  to  the  curiosity  our  appearance  had 
excited.  Then  he  casually  let  fall  one  crisp, 
comprehensive  sentence  : 

"  We've  jest  run  up  from  Torky." 

At  these  tidings  the  Folkestone  men  exchanged 
expressive  glances  ;  then  bent  their  eyes  anew 
on  the  pair  of  storm-stained  mariners. 

"  Not  sorry  to  be  in  harbour,  I  dessay  ?  "  one 
presently  ventured. 

"  Not  sorry ! "  cried  Gotty,  depositing  his 
tumbler  on  a  table,  to  be  the  better  able  to  unlock 


HOMEWARD   IN   A   HURRICANE     351 

the  inmost  chambers  of  his  soul ;  "  Not  sorry  ! 
Look  'ere,  mate !  I  wouldn't  go  through  that 
lot  again  not  fer  a  'undred  pound — nor  yet  two 
'undred ;  there  you  are.  I've  seen  a  bit  o'  wind, 
and  I've  seen  a  bit  o'  weather,  at  our  place  some- 
times ;  but  talk  about  larst  night !  It  wasn't  water 
— it  was  boilin'  froth,  and  all  round  yer  the  same  ! 
There  was  times  when  I  thought  she  was  goin' 
ter  shut  the  door — that's  the  truth  I  did.  .  .  . 
'  Where's  the  Guv'nor  ? '  I  says  to  Joe,  fer  I  'adn't 
set  eyes  on  'im  all  day.  '  Is  'e  dead  or  alive  ? ' 
I  says.  ''E  was  when  I  see  'im  larst,'  says  Joe. 
'  Thank  Gawd  fer  that,'  I  says." 

Next  day  the  storm  was  over  ;  and  on  the 
evening  tide  we  entered  upon  the  last  stage  of 
our  voyage. 

Restored  to  his  delighted  family,  Cole  had 
exhibited  a  complacency  that  rather  jarred  on 
Gotty  and  the  Guv'nor.  So  we  scorned  to  ask 
his  further  assistance,  particularly  as  we  had  no 
hope  that  he  would  concede  it.  We  two  took 
the  Betty  back. 

Passing  the  Foreland  next  morning,  I  rolled  up 
my  chart.  The  pilot's  work  was  done.  We  had 
re-entered  the  old  familiar  estuary — Gotty's  world. 

Four  hours  later,  with  Essex  still  invisible, 
I  was  aghast  to  feel  our  keel  bumping  submerged 
solidity.  As  Gotty  seized  an  oar  and  plunged 
on  both  sides  for  the  depth,  his  face  was  dark 
with  agony.  , 

"  Clumsy  old  duffer  !  "  I  gasped. 


352     GOTTY   AND   THE   GUVNOR 

"  Oh  dear,"  he  whimpered.  "  We  ain't  goin' 
ter  be  pulled  up,  are  we  ?  Shorely — shorely  we 
ain't !  "  Suddenly  his  countenance  brightened 
and  he  shouted  :  "  Parst  it !  Bray-vo  !  " 

"Yes,  but — "  I  began,  indignantly. 

"  I  fancied,"  he  explained  in  excitement,  "  there'd 
be  a  fadum  over  that  bank.  Not  quite  there 
wasn't.  But  jest  enough.  That's  saved  us  five 
mile  and  charnse  it." 

So  I  forgave  him. 

They  saw  us  coming.  Mrs.  Gotty  stood  waiting 
and  waving  on  the  jetty. 

"Well,  sir,"  she  exclaimed,  as  our  dinghey 
touched  the  stairs,  "  I  hope  he's  been  behaving 
himself." 

"  Don't  talk  so  silly  !  "  said  Gotty. 


The  old  familiar  Estuary. 


SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  131  568     8 


